Thank you, Madam Speaker. In answer to the Member for High Arctic, I would like to make a brief statement on sexual abuse because there are different types of sexual abuse that can be defined. It includes exposure to pornographic materials, exposures to flashers, inappropriate touching, oral sex and sexual intercourse.

It is important to remember that this type of abuse has different levels of trauma. The level of trauma is also affected by whether the incident, or incidents were one-time or ongoing. By law, sexual abuse must be reported by all persons when it is identified. The department provides counselling and support through contract services in each region. As much as possible, assistance is provided at the community level.

When a sexual abuse case is reported to Social Services, the steps that are taken are first that usually the RCMP does the investigation. Depending upon the findings of the RCMP investigation, charges are laid on the offender and the work begins by the social worker and sexual abuse specialist. This depends on whether the person who has been abused is a child or an adult. Thank you.