Sexual assault statistics alarming

When rape is part of the culture, we have to change the culture.

By Jody Dallaire

According to Maclean’s magazine, Belleville, Ontario, has the unhappy distinction of having the highest rate of reported sexual assaults per capita, with almost 137 sexual assaults per 100,000 population. But two of the three Canadian cities with the highest sexual assault rates are in New Brunswick: Fredericton and Saint John.

Fredericton and Saint John, respectively had rates of almost 130 and 115 incidents per 100,000 in 2011. Halifax was 12th, with 87 reported sexual assaults per 100,000 population.

A recent Maclean’s article titled, Where Canadian criminals go to play — A look at the cities with the most lawbreakers used Statistics Canada data about police reports of sexual assaults to rank the risk in Canadian communities with a population of 10,000  – but only the “top” 15 cities. No other New Brunswick municipality made it in the group.

New Brunswick’s showing on that list is shocking, mostly because it seems that our province is not doing much to prevent the crime.  Also, we know that, here as elsewhere, most victims of reported sexual assaults are children.  

In 2009 in New Brunswick, in six of ten (61 percent) sexual assault cases, the victim was a child —  younger than 12 in one-fifth (21 percent) of cases. That’s about 350 children in New Brunswick in 2009 who were victims of a sexual assault that was reported to police.

In 83 percent of cases, the victim was female. In 100 percent of cases, the perpetrator was a male.  

And let’s not go thinking these are assaults by the boogeyman that lurks in the alleyway. Only 18 percent of the reported sexual assaults in the province were committed by a stranger.  Acquaintances and family members account for almost three-quarters of them, and dating partners or spouses for the rest.

Some will try to spin Fredericton’s and Saint John’s ratings as possibly good news, because, the excuse goes, victims there feel more comfortable about reporting the crime to the police. There are good reasons  to doubt this explanation. Our programs are not as well funded nor as strong as in many other provinces and municipalities. Also our charge rate, especially in Saint John, is very low. And anyways, our sexual assault report rates have been high for decades, especially in Saint John.

For most of the last 25 years, New Brunswick has had a higher rate of police-reported sexual assaults than the Canadian average.  In 2010, we had 78 sexual assaults per 100,000 population, compared to the Canadian rate of 65 per 100,000.

Note that all those statistics are just for “sexual assaults” and don’t include other sexual crimes, such as sexual interference with a child, invitation to sexual touching and sexual exploitation, and the actual charge of incest.  The statistics for these other crimes are similar.

I hope that New Brunswick will finally confront this situation by launching prevention campaigns – real ones aimed at the potential assaulters.  Like those campaigns in the last few years in some Canadian municipalities, “Don’t be that guy”, stating that having sex with someone who doesn’t consent, or who is too drunk or too young or too disabled to consent, is rape.  “It’s not sex when she doesn’t want it. Sex without voluntary consent is sexual assault.”

Look at sexual assault rates around the world, let alone across Canada, and you’ll see that the rates are different in different cultures. If we change the culture that makes those assaults possible, we could be able to reduce the rates of assault.

Here’s a list of some real prevention tips, suggested by feminist law professors, government campaigns, and internet blogs, and directed to men.  You can print these out and put them on the wall.

• Use the buddy system! If you are not able to stop yourself from assaulting people, ask a friend to stay with you while you are in public.
• When you see someone walking by themselves, leave them alone!
• If your girlfriend or wife is not in the mood, don’t force her.
• If your step-daughter is watching TV, don’t rape her.
• If your friend thinks it’s okay to rape someone, tell him it’s not, and that he’s not your friend.
• If your “friend” tells you he raped someone, report him to the police.
• If you pull over to help someone with car problems, remember not to assault them. If you are in an elevator and someone else gets in, don’t assault them!
• Don’t pretend to be a caring friend in order to gain the trust of someone you want to assault. Consider telling them you plan to assault them.
• Don’t forget: you can’t have sex with someone unless they are awake!
• Carry a whistle! If you are worried you might assault someone “by accident” you can hand it to the person you are with, so they can blow it if you do.

© Copyright 2013 Jody Dallaire, All rights Reserved. Written For: StraightGoods.ca