Brandon University will welcome community agencies and interested members of the public for a forum to discuss the new third-party reporting option for incidents of sexual assault. The forum is being organized by the John Howard Society, and all are welcome to attend, although there is limited space.

Third-party reporting is an option for survivors of sexualized violence who want to report what happened to them to the authorities, including the police, in a less formal way. They can report to a third party, who will then relay the report to authorities.

This is a new option in Brandon, and currently there are two agencies offering third-party reporting options — the John Howard Society and the Brandon Women’s Resource Centre. At each agency, there is a designated person who can receive reports and relay the, on.

Although survivors who wish a police investigation will still need to make their own formal report, making a third-party report at a separate agency allows survivors to access counselling and to make the offender known to police while preserving some of their own privacy.

At the forum, details about how third-party reporting works will be shared and discussed, including rules and limitations.

Everyone is welcome to attend. No pre-registration is required, although the forum is limited to approximately 50 people.