Few complaints of a sexual nature before the courts

Christopher Nardi

Wednesday, October 4, 2017 00:04

UPDATE
Wednesday, October 4, 2017 00:04

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OTTAWA | More than half of all sexual harassment complaints handled by the canadian police fall in the water before you even go to court, reveals a new study from Statistics Canada. A finding is “alarming,” according to experts.

There have been nearly 130, 000 complaints of sexual assault were deemed “unfounded” by the police between 2009 and 2014 across the country. Of this number, only 41 % resulted in criminal charges.

Even worse : it is estimated that only 5 % of sexual assaults are reported to police.

This is revealed in a new profile of sexual assault between 2009 and 2014 to be released Tuesday by Statistics Canada. It is the study of the complaints, victims, suspects, and also of police investigations for sexual assault, the most detailed to date, says the federal agency.

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Stéphanie Tremblay, SACC

“These are findings quite alarming that unfortunately confirms what we been hearing for the past 40 years in the field. We do not stop to say to women to denounce their aggressors, but when they do, the process often leads to nothing, ” laments Stephanie Tremblay, a spokesperson for the Regroupement québécois des centres d’aide et de lutte contre les agressions à caractère sexuel (CALACS).

His comments have been echoed in many other organizations that help victims of sexual assault to which The Journal has spoken.

Young boys

According to the study, women represent the vast majority (87 %) of sexual assault victims in the country, while the men are almost always the aggressors claimed (98 %).

However, the Statistics Canada numbers are another finding troubling : half of male victims were 13 years or less (compared with 18 years for women).

“There is really a large difference between the median age of victims male and female, and it surprised us,” says Warren Silver, an analyst at Statistics Canada. We don’t know exactly why, but it may be that male victims older denounce much less aggression. “

Least in Quebec

Amazing fact : Quebec is the second province where police reported the least complaints of sexual assault per 100 000 inhabitants. Besides, Gatineau is the third largest metropolitan area with the lowest rate of complaints of this type across the country (see map).

But no matter for rejoicing, ” said Ms. Tremblay, who warns that it is rather a sign that Quebecers do not report the assault at the same speed as their canadian counterparts.

“We really need that Quebec gets rid of this culture of impunity towards sexual assault, and there are a lot of educational work to do with the police and the judicial system to dispose of significant prejudices towards the victims,” says the spokesperson.