The Fredericton Sexual Assault Centre has partnered with the city's police force on a pilot program designed to give officers a better idea of what trauma looks like among victims.

Sexual assault is a difficult subject to tackle. Historically, male and female victims have not felt their voices are being heard.

“For any victim of sexual assault it's so difficult to come forward in the first place, so if they're met with misconceptions about sexual violence and how it impacts a victim, it's going to be further traumatizing to them,” says Lorraine Whalley, with the Fredericton Sexual Assault Centre.

To put it in perspective, these are still some of the questions victims hear from police:

“Why aren't you more upset? Or, why didn’t you come forward sooner? Why are you reacting this way? Why did you contact the person that assaulted you?” says Whalley.

Brandon Gaynor is a constable with the Fredericton Police Force and has been working in policing for almost a decade. He says, until now, he had never received in-depth training on victim trauma.

“We have training in trauma and what that is and what that looks like, but when you specify it to sexual violence survivors it really puts it in perspective,” says Gaynor.

Fredericton Police Chief Leanne Fitch says this type of training should be incorporated across Canada.

“The training is very timely. There's an awakening, I guess, in the policing community right across the country of the importance of understanding the trauma on victims,” says Fitch. “I would expect that this is something you're going to see gain traction in policing communities.”

Experts in sexual assault cases say this type of training zeroes in on a victim centred approach and is key to gaining the trust and cooperation of the victim.

Gaynor was one of the first to receive the training, which he said exceeded his expectations.

“Anything that we can do as a community, first responders, to better that environment, to make victims comfortable with coming forward and reporting these incidents then the better off we are in the long-term,” says Gaynor.

The training program was funded by the Status of Women Canada, but organizers are hoping for long-term funding to keep the training going.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Laura Brown