A new poem by El Jones. TRIGGER WARNING: 80-90 percent of women in prison are victims of physical and sexual assault. Yet because they are “criminals” what happens to them at the hands of the system must be something they deserve. When we talk about injustice to rape victims in Canadian courts where are their stories?
Earlier this year we asked Bridgewater police about the number of sexual assault cases it deemed unfounded, numbers that were very high relative to provincial and national averages. At the time the Deputy Chief of Police told us there was nothing wrong, but somebody should revisit that conclusion now that its own Chief of Police is charged with sexual assault .
Reporter Rebecca Hussman with the second part of her series on sexual assaults in Nova Scotia. “There’s a whole societal change that needs to happen for victims to feel believed and supported enough to be able to report that to police.”
According to data gathered by journalists at the Globe and Mail, of all cases in the country, 12% of sexual assault cases were cleared as unfounded from 2010 to 2014. In Nova Scotia, in contrast, 25% of sexual assault cases were cleared as unfounded. The “Unfounded” classification means that police determined that the reported violation did not happen. Reporter Rebecca Hussman talks with the chiefs of police of the Truro, Amherst and Bridgewater detachments where the number of unfounded cases is exceptionally high. And we compiled a list with data from all police detachments in Nova Scotia.
Two beautiful hand-printed posters originally made for January’s Halifax Women’s March are now for sale, with 75% of all sales to be donated to the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre in Halifax, NS.
Excellent reporting by the Globe and Mail reveals that police dismissal rates of sexual assault allegations are high and vary widely across the country. Nova Scotia is no exception. What’s going on?
Judy Haiven writes about the many unreported sexual assaults at university campuses in Atlantic Canada. There is a culture of silence around these crimes, and cover-ups by most universities are routine.