Achi news desk-
The English-speaking hospital that refused to perform a forensic evaluation on a rape victim because she spoke French did not follow procedures, the French Office of the Determinant (OQLF) has ruled.
The OQLF said the rules state that the service must be offered to the victim and that her referral to another facility requires her consent.
The president and CEO of OQLF, Dominique Malac, announced on Tuesday the findings of the organization’s investigation during the study of the budget allocations of the Ministry of the French language.
The story was first published in the media in July 2023. A rape victim was refused a legal kit by the Montreal General Hospital because her native language was French. The police had to take the victim to another hospital, which did not have a forensic kit. At the third hospital, the victim was finally able to receive service.
The OQLF then launched an investigation.
“Applying the General Hospital’s protocol, without taking into account its obligation to provide services in French, was obviously against the requirements of the French Language Convention,” Malak concluded.
“The hospital, therefore, would not have complied with the procedures that state that the service must be offered explicitly to the victim and that his referral must be subject to prior consent,” Malak added.
The CEO noted that the hospital staff’s ability to offer the service in French “is not necessarily in doubt.”
Malak said the OQLF also carried out checks at various times of the day and week to verify the availability of the French service without giving advance notice of its arrival. The ministry also met with the Ministry of Health, the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) and a center for victims of sexual assault.
“What resulted was the change in the sexual assault protocol and a reminder to all staff of their obligations,” the OQLF said.
Additional tests in the spring of 2024 confirmed that “the service was available at all times and that the correct protocol was implemented.”
Also, last November, an “official orientation” was issued by the Ministry of Health and Social Services “indicating that the services of the centers intended for victims must be offered regardless of their language,” Malak concluded.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 23, 2024.
