Stigma lifting
New statistics indicate a sharp increase in reported sexual assaults, a drop in cases deemed ‘unfounded’ by police
P.E.I. experienced a 10-year high in the number of reported sexual assaults in 2018.
This may be sobering, but it could also be an indication more survivors of sexual assault are reporting incidents to police.
A national review of crime data compiled by Statistics Canada found that there were 107 incidents of sexual assault, level 1, on the Island in 2018. This was 55 per cent more than in 2017. Level 1 sexual assaults do not involve a weapon or serious physical injuries.
Rachael Crowder, executive director of the P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Centre, believes the jump is related to increased awareness of sexual assault. She believes the numbers are a sign more people are reporting assaults to police, but they do not necessarily mean more sexual assaults are being committed. Sexual assaults often go unreported.
“Some of the stigma has been lifted by these big events like #MeToo and #Timesup and other awareness campaigns that seem to be happening,” Crowder said.
The number of individuals charged also rose to 36, from 26 the previous year. This was the highest number of individuals charged with sexual assault level I in 10 years.
The report also found the number of sexual assault cases deemed ‘unfounded’ by law enforcement has dropped on P.E.I. In 2017, 24 out of 69, or 26 per cent, reported sexual assaults were deemed unfounded. In 2018, 15 out of 107, or 12 per cent, of reported sexual assaults were deemed unfounded.
In 2017, P.E.I. had the highest rate of any province of sexual assault cases deemed ‘unfounded’ by law enforcement. Up until recently, the term ‘unfounded’ meant police determined the event did not occur, meaning no violation of the law took place.
The term drew headlines after a 2017 Globe and Mail story found that one in five reported sexual assaults were deemed unfounded by police in Canada. Advocates suggested the frequency in unfounded cases was an indication that law enforcement were dismissing sexual assault claims at a rate far higher than other crimes.
By January of 2018, police services across the country began changing how they classified unfounded cases in terms of sexual assault. The new definition reflected a more “victim centred approach” according to Statistics Canada.
In 2017 a report from then P.E.I. premier Wade MacLauchlan found that of 107 cases of sexual assault reported to Charlottetown Police Services between 2014 and 2016, 54 were deemed unfounded. A review of the cases by Charlottetown Police determined the cases had been correctly identified.
For RCMP Island-wide, of 428 cases of reported sexual assault, 199 were deemed unfounded between 2010 and 2016.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Kevin Baillie said the new classification meant fewer files were being “scored” as unfounded. Baillie said before the change, thorough investigations of sexual assaults were done, and complainants were treated respectfully. But he said cases should have been classified as ‘insufficient evidence to proceed’ instead of unfounded.
“We have changed policy in relation to when a reported offence would be scored as unfounded, and we have provided officers with additional training in relation to the overall handling of sexual assaults and related offences,” Baillie said.
Crowder said she was cautious of drawing far-reaching conclusions about changes in how law enforcement treat reports of sexual assault.
“It’s really hard to tell without more data,” she said.
Crowder said RCMP have established a review board composed of individuals working in the field of sexual assault services.
The board provides confidential reviews of investigations involving sexual assault.
“We look at it from the lens of the victims that we work with and also from the social context. We understand, I think, kind of the larger structural issues around sexism and other oppressive systems,” Crowder said.
Crowder said these reviews could help correct myths and assumptions about survivors of sexual violence.
But Crowder said municipal police forces, including Charlottetown Police Services and Summerside Police Department have yet to establish similar review boards.
The Guardian reached out to Charlottetown Police Services for comment but did not hear back by deadline.