Kitikmeot (Dec 11/06) - The lonely voice at the end of the phone line is in tears. She is a Kitikmeot resident, and has fled her home town for Yellowknife.

To protect her and her young child, we have withheld her name and home community. She charged a man with sexual assault, and left town after she found out he would be released pending a court date.

"I told them if he was released, I would kill him myself," the alleged victim said. "They say he is under conditions, but that's not good enough. It is giving him the chance to do it again."

She has been waiting to go to a shelter in Edmonton with her young daughter, but has been caught in government purgatory.

"I'm tired of playing phone tag. I feel like nobody is doing anything," she said. "It isn't just me, people are getting the run around and nobody is doing anything."

The housing shortage in Nunavut played a role as well. After being kicked out of her mother's home, this alleged victim moved in with the man she has charged with sexual assault.

A look at the police blotter indicates that this alleged victim is not alone. In October, Cambridge Bay RCMP responded to 16 assaults, up from six in October 2005.

In the same period, there were 49 calls for police help when alcohol was present. The previous October, there were only eight. Three people were charged with spousal assault, and there were five unsuccessful suicide attempts, all in October 2006.

Sgt. Louis Jenvenne - of the Cambridge Bay RCMP - knows there is a problem in his community.

"It is a priority issue in Nunavut for the RCMP," he said. "It gets a lot of attention, and it should."

The police are the first to the scene of a violent crime. Their role is simple, get the victim to help and investigate the crime.

"Our first response is directly to the health centre. Secondly, social services is involved," said Jenvenne.

Once a victim arrives at the health centre, they are subject to a health care system already stretched to the limit.

"I would like to see shelters in every community for victims of violence," said Barb Hoddinott, the manager of mental health services for the Kitikmeot region. "I would also like to see every shelter staffed with a full-time mental health person. There is a mental health consultant in every community, but that isn't the same as having one person dedicated to mental health.

"We have three communities staffed indeterminately - Gjoa Haven, Cambridge Bay and Taloyoak - and (for the others) we have casual and agency nurses that come in to work," said Hoddinott.

Two Kitikmeot communities have shelters - Taloyoak and Cambridge Bay - and victims in other towns are sent to those, which can pose problems. "Even coming to Cambridge Bay from Gjoa Haven can be a challenge," said Hoddinott.

Victims they can't help are sent to Yellowknife, where our anonymous victim awaits a decision from Health and Social Services. She needs to get out of Yellowknife. She used to live there, and her past in that town is starting to catch up to her.

"I don't feel safe in Yellowknife anymore," she said. "I know when people see me here, they tell other people. People drive past at night, and if they see me having a cigarette, they say my name. I'm scared."