The Victoria Sexual Assault Centre is no longer offering its year-long counselling program for individuals, due to a rise in those needing crisis support.
The centre said it has had a large increase in the number of survivors coming to them over the last two years, with many in crisis and seeking immediate support because of recent or historical trauma.
As it struggles to meet the needs of a growing wait list, the non-profit said in a release it is no longer able to offer the counselling services.
“This was a very hard decision for VSAC to make and we know that this news will be difficult for many of the survivors on our wait list and in our community,” the centre stated. “We want survivors and our community to know that even though we can no longer offer long-term counselling, there are many paths to healing.”
The Victoria Sexual Assault Centre is still offering several free services to survivors of sexualized violence, including: the 24/7 Integrated Sexual Assault Clinic, individual crisis counselling, group counselling and victim services.
Crisis support counsellors can be reached at 250-383-3232 or access@vsac.ca.
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