P.E.I. Has the Highest Rate of Sex Assault Cases Deemed Unfounded by Police in Canada

Apparently, the land of Anne of Green Gables is the wrong province to get sexually assaulted and expect some sort of justice, but change is coming

Brian Higgins · CBC News 

In 2017, 24 per cent of reported sexual assault cases on P.E.I. were deemed unfounded by police. (Blair Gable/Reuters)

P.E.I. leads the country with the highest percentage of sexual assault cases that are deemed unfounded by police, according to numbers released Monday by Statistics Canada.

In 2017, just over 24 per cent of reported cases of sexual assault on P.E.I. were deemed unfounded. 

Nationally, the rate was 14 percent — a drop of five percentage points since 2016 — according to the report, Unfounded criminal incidents in Canada, 2017.

Previously the province had reported nearly 40 per cent of cases on P.E.I. were deemed unfounded. That number came from a review by the provincial government.

The province launched a working group late last year to look into why the Island's numbers were so high.

The P.E.I. Department of Justice said in a written statement to CBC Monday it has brought in new reporting methods and training for police, including ways to interview victims and gather evidence.

"All Island police agencies are now using the new uniform crime reporting definitions related to sexual assault established by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics," said the statement.

The province has also appointed a senior Crown prosecutor to handle cases of sexual assault.

According to Statistics Canada, media reports and the #MeToo movement were part of the reason for the trends nation wide of more reporting of sexual assaults.

Police and prosecutors choosing to not prosecute sex abusers is one of the first problems that has to be addressed if women and children are going to get anything close to fair treatment in courts. 20th century policing very often discouraged victims from pressing charges, partly because the likelihood of getting a conviction was very low, and partly because the police or prosecutor didn't want the victim to ruin the man's life. That he had ruined the victims life was of little importance or very poorly understood. It's good to see PEI making several moves to improve justice for sex abuse victims, but please keep improving. There is lots more to be done. Now to get conviction rates up.

Rape - A Hard Sell to Police in Northern Ontario

Sudbury police, OPP to review sexual assault complaints deemed 'unfounded'

1/3 of sexual assault complaints in northeastern Ontario

labeled 'unfounded' by police

CBC News

An investigation by the Globe and Mail has found that one in five sexual assault complaints are dismissed by police as "unfounded." In Greater Sudbury, the rate is 33 per cent over the last five years. 

An investigation by the Globe and Mail has found that one in five sexual assault complaints are dismissed by police as "unfounded." In Greater Sudbury, the rate is 33 per cent over the last five years. (Shutterstock)

Police forces in Sudbury and across northern Ontario are reviewing sexual assault cases after an investigation by the Globe and Mail.

It revealed, through two years of interviews and hundreds of freedom of information requests, that one in five complaints are labelled as unfounded by Canadian police forces and the rate is closer to one in three in northern Ontario.

The numbers show that between 2010 and 2014, 314 of the 939 sexual assault complaints called into Sudbury police were deemed "unfounded," representing 33 per cent.

Greater Sudbury police say a "comprehensive review" is now being done into sexual assault investigations, including an "in-depth analysis of the factors contributing to cases that are deemed unfounded."

Because of that review, Sudbury police are not commenting directly on the Globe's findings.

But Detective Sergeant Jordan Buchanan says in their department, "unfounded" means investigators have concluded that the alleged assault never happened.

When asked how he feels about the Globe's headline question, 'Will police believe you?' or the activist catchphrase, 'We believe victims', Buchanan suggests it misses the point.

"There may be a time when a victim gives a statement that the officer doesn't believe. Doesn't close the investigation though," he says.

'Are you sure you didn't consent?'

Lynzy Boeswald-Lalande, who leads talks and training sessions on sexual assault in Sudbury, says the number of cases labeled unfounded is more disturbing, considering that only 10 per cent of sexual assaults are reported in the first place.

She says she often hears from women whose complaint did not lead to charges.

"It's often 'we can't prove it.' It's usually that term that they use. Or, it's a he said she said. Or, 'are you sure you didn't consent?'" she says.

For the North Bay police, The Globe and Mail found that 44 per cent of sexual assault complaints were deemed unfounded between 2010 and 2014. It was 29 per cent for Sault Ste. Marie and 30 per cent in Timmins.

The northern detachments of the Ontario Provincial Police were mostly in the one-third range, with 30 per cent in Kirkland Lake and 35 per cent in Temiskaming, for example.

Sergeant Peter Leon says the OPP is now doing a detachment-by-detachment review of these cases.

"The OPP takes any allegation of sexual assault and violence seriously, but again we recognize that these occurrences are complex in nature to investigate," Leon says.