What is the Sexual Assault by Domestic Violence (SADV) Program in Kingston and Ontario?

Kingston Ontario SADV domestic violence human trafficking sexual assult

 

Nadia Weese

Nadia Weese is the Clinical team lead of the Sexual Assault by Domestic Violence program (SADV) at the Kingston Heath Centre.

Weese began her talk by reviewing the data on domestic sexual violence. Although the data is grossly underreported, the greater Kingston area consistently ranks higher than the rest of Ontario and is the fourth-highest in all of Canada.

The reporting of physical violence in this area is almost twice as high as in the rest of the province.

Some of the reasons our data ranks higher than average are:

  • The higher number of students,
  • The mix of city and rural residents is a factor,
  • We are on the biggest trafficking corridor in Canada.

The Kingston area SADV is one of 37 such centres in Ontario. Ontario is the only Canadian province with such a network. The goal is to offer the same high standard of care across the province, and with a hotline in place, a person in distress should be able to quickly locate the nearest staffed centre.

Weese reported that in the past week she had seen victims from 3 months to 76 years as a way to emphasize that the SADV program sees people of all ages. Women make up the majority of clients; however, men also constitute a not insignificant cohort.

Canada’s biggest Human trafficking corridor stretches from Montreal to Windsor; hence, Kingston is a major node in the route. The existence of the SADV network allows staff to discover girls who are likely candidates to be “red flagged”.

In the past few months, there has been an increase in trafficking, especially in high school-aged girls.  Weese said, “The average age in trafficking is now 13 years old”.

Access to the SADV program has been an issue. Until this year, a victim had to see a doctor, most often in the emergency department. Now the triage nurse can divert them directly to the SADV program. As a result, the number of referrals has increased dramatically. 2024 saw 129 referrals; 2025 saw 219; and 2026 is on track to see over 300.

The biggest jump in types of abuse is in technology-facilitated abuse. As an example, Weese described how a person could be abused by an angry spouse using a doorbell camera.

Additional topics Weese covered were:

Accessibility Examination Chair
  • Acute care support
  • Medical care -
  • Forensic care -
  • Counselling
  • Safety planning
  • The use of blue light to discover bruising that does not show externally;
  • Initiated an outreach program with high schools, both public and now Catholic, hospitals, police services and the military base services;
  • Improvements to their client furniture and space;
  • The purchase of a mobility chair for clients with accessibility issues.
Sponsors