A support hotline for sexualized assault victims has been launched in the Yukon.

The support line is promised to be confidential, toll-free and open 24 hours a day.

Victim support workers will operate the line, ready to provide support and access to medical and legal resources.

The line is one aspect of the Yukon government’s Sexualized Assault Response Team (SART), a long-awaited initiative originally promised for the spring of 2018.

The Yukon government officially launched SART on Friday morning, nearly two years after the original deadline.

“I absolutely recognize we were here a couple years ago and thought we could get this done in six months; well, we couldn’t,” Jeanie Dendys, the minister responsible for the Women’s Directorate, said at Friday’s press conference.

The launch of SART required substantial governmental restructuring, Dendys said.

This meant streamlining the system, so that the Departments of Justice, and Health and Social Services, could communicate and work together on sexual assault cases.

“We are dealing with systems that are well-entrenched, and breaking down silos,” Dendys said.

The former lack of collaboration between departments made navigating medical and legal services difficult for victims.

SART aims to simplify the process by providing support workers who are well-versed in accessing both medical and legal supports.

The initiative will offer “wrap-around emotional, medical and legal support,” a government release states.

Victims who reach out to SART need only take advantage of the services they desire, it was explained Friday.

This could mean accessing medical support, legal services, or simply taking advantage of a supportive ear on the other end of the phone.

For example, if a victim called the SART line with the intention of contacting police, a support worker would be able to explain the process and accompany the victim to report to the RCMP.

“With SART, the choice of how to deal with a sexualized assault is up to the individual,” the release explains.

“There is no pressure to contact the police or do anything the individual is uncomfortable with.”

There are currently hospital services available for sexualized assault victims in Whitehorse, Dawson City and Watson Lake. There is also clinical support services in the community’s mental wellness hubs.

Health and Social Services Minister Pauline Frost said there is an ongoing effort to provide adequate support for the Yukon’s communities, which are all “unique” and require tailored services.

“We want to be as adaptive as possible,” Frost said.

SART aims to provide holistic support, she added.

It was noted that the Yukon has disproportionately high rates of sexualized violence against women and girls, particularly in Indigenous communities.

“We have a tremendous amount of work to do to incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing (into care),” Dendys said.

“We have a lot of work to do there, but we have to sort out our own house first.”

Justice Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee said it’s important that victims “chart their own path to healing.” She noted that SART supports are available to all people regardless of gender, age or sexuality.

On the justice side, it was explained that the Yukon’s RCMP are undergoing trauma-informed, victim-focused training to better support victims.

The SART is a “force multiplier” for the RCMP, and will help a smoother transition from police to health and wellness services.