Third Party Reporting of Sexual Assault: The British Columbia Protocol

EVA BC has developed an Interim Third Party Reporting Protocol to provide guidance to CBVS and other designated programs regarding the provision of support to survivors to complete a Third Party Report while physical distancing measures and stay-at-home orders are in place.

The October 2019 BC TPR Work Team Update is a 4-page bulletin that highlights key TPR background and summarizes the recent BC TPR Protocol enhancements.

This January 2019 webinar provides a history and overview of the British Columbia Third Party Reporting (TPR) Protocol and key elements of local implementation, as well as 2017 and 2018 updates to the BC TPR protocol. This 2-hour TPR Webinar is the most recent update in a series presented by the BC TPR Work Team over the last several years. The content is geared toward BC service providers facilitating TPR or making referrals to the TPR process. The webinar was hosted by the provincial TPR Work Team, which is led by the Ending Violence Association of BC’s Community Coordination for Women’s Safety program. Work Team members include the BC Association of Chiefs of Police, RCMP “E” Division, Vancouver Police Department Sex Crimes Unit, BC Association of Municipal Chiefs of Police, and the BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.

For original/individual versions of the Third Party Reporting Cover Sheet and Form, as well as other support regarding Third Party Reporting contact CCWS by email at ccws (at) endingviolence (dot) org or phone 604.633.2506 ext 15.

The BC Third Party Reporting (TPR) Work Team is pleased to announce the 2019 enhanced BC TPR Protocol, and the release of the Third Party Reporting Guidebook 2.0: Increasing Reporting Options for Sexual Assault Survivors, (“TPR Guidebook 2.0”). The TPR Guidebook 2.0 contains comprehensive information about the Third Party Reporting Protocol in BC, and reflects TPR Protocol enhancements since the release of the first edition of the TPR Guidebook in 2015. The TPR Guidebook includes police protocol guidelines and action map, CBVS protocol guidelines and action map, a sample cover sheet and form, and a local interagency protocol template. This resource was developed and updated by the TPR Work Team to increase the implementation and effectiveness of the TPR protocol across BC.

This document is intended to assist with local interagency protocol development for Third Party Reporting of sexual assault in British Columbia.  It is to be used in conjunction with the comprehensive CCWS publication, Third Party Reporting Guidebook 2.0: Increasing Reporting Options for Sexual Assault Survivors, July 2019

To implement TPR locally, CBVS and police need to negotiate local agreements incorporating the steps and procedures contained in the Police and CBVS Provincial Protocol Guidelines.  A local TPR protocol template can be used as the basis for local interagency agreements regarding roles and responsibilities with respect to TPR.

To ensure consistency of response and collection of data, BC’s police services reached an agreement with Community Coordination for Women’s safety to enhance the current TPR provincial protocol. BC RCMP Crime Prevention Services (CPS) is now acting as a liaison with RCMP detachments and municipal police departments to support their efforts to investigate these incidents, and to ensure consistent attention to Third Party Reports and related policing issues. This liaison position is also improving the ability of police services to review TPRs from across the province to identify linkages between investigations of sexual assaults within and across police jurisdictions. This document describes the enhancement to the protocol, one of several initiatives the provincial TPR Work Team is engaged in to increase the availability of this important reporting option across the province.

While the BC TPR Protocol is intentionally focussed on adults aged 19 and over, it does not preclude consideration of the possibility of TPR in exceptional cases for younger survivors. TPR for survivors under 19 is possible, but the process needs to be worked out at the local level between Community-Based Victim Services (CBVS) and police on a case-by-case discretionary basis.  This document outlines a number of factors that need to be taken into account in exercising this discretion.

We are pleased to provide you with the completed Sexual Violence Safety and Risk (SVSR) Guiding Principles, written and developed by Gisela Ruebsaat with the support of others at CCWS and in consultation with several experts.

The SVSR Guiding Principles are for Community Based Victim Services and other community programs facilitating TPR.  They were developed to provide very basic, general information to help agencies identify key warning signs for further violence and decide whether a case, including identifying information might need to be reported to the police who could then conduct a more formal risk assessment.

The Guiding Principles are intended to be read and used in conjunction with the Third Party Reporting Guidebook 2.0.