Unfounded
Why police
dismiss 1 in 5 sexual assault claims as baseless
In
a 20-month-long investigation into how police handle sexual assault
allegations, The Globe and Mail gathered data from more than 870 police forces.
The findings expose deep flaws at every step of the process
By
Robyn Doolittle London, Ont.
Published
Friday, February 3, 2017
When I first started researching this essay it was after London
Police Force said they are investigating unfounded cases and it was linked to
the inquiry conducted by the Globe and Mail and the findings published on
February 3rd, 2017. I watched as slowly in the days after many of
the rest of Canadian police forces started to release their own statements pledging to review their own 'unfounded' cases. The RCMP responded, then Ontario, then Quebec who have their own provincial
police departments. I cried- out loud. I did; and I was at work (in a male
dominated, macho profession). I could not believe that someone was taking women
seriously. Major police orgaisations wanted to start a serious discussion into violence against women and are taking steps to become accountable. Someone has taken real, salaried, professional hours to conduct research
and then published this research for the world to see. Violence against women is a problem today. Today I am crossing my fingers we are finally going to do something about it.
I am still seeing new police forces, from the 873
jurisdictions that were included and supplied their data, come forward to dedicate their organisations to being a part of this research. 2017 is the time for recognition for all Canadian women who bravely carried on after being called a liar. For
women who are afraid to come forward because they are afraid of losing credibility or being ostracized at
work. I am still reeling. I am scared to hope that this means my daughter will
hopefully live with less sexual violence in her life. I wait on bated breath to
see how the next years and months unfold. I am not going speak at this time in my blogg about the data or research on this, or really lend a critical eye but
instead give a candid reaction to the huge, incredible, affirming, and about f*(&$king
time news. I have decided to write my research paper on this as well, so just hold your horses for the real critical analysis on this
article by the Globe and Mail. I will post the link later if anyone else wants
to read it.
I have never been forced in to unwanted sex
acts but the definition of sexual assault is so vague I do have a handful of
incidents in my history which I would consider unwanted sexual attention, pressure,
coercion, and harassment. I never told anyone in authority and think I only
disclosed to a handful of friends. Some of the perpetrators are my partners in
my workplace today. One of them will sometimes fill the role of supervisor to
me and other women at work. I never told because I would not be able to prove
it (men are smart, they divide and conquer) and it would make things unbearable
for me if I did not receive the support I needed.
My insides did a little leap for joy, with one
fist raised to pump the sky. What could this mean? Will there eventually be
less sexual assault? Will men be held accountable for their actions? Will sex
workers receive more protection? Then I wondered why now? What was the
catalyst? Did our First Nations women demanding inquiry into the missing women become catalyst for justice of all women? Were they our sounding board? My thoughts are that the Globe going public on this will finally force public organizations
to recognize this issue and pledge time and money to remedy this atrocity of modern society. If you read
the article you will see that the data is decades old and been mulled over in
private for quite some time. So now I am livid. This better lead somewhere
ladies.
No comments:
Post a Comment