Stop letting the system assault victims of sexual violence over and over

Sexual assault is one of the worst experiences any woman can face. It rightfully attracts strong opprobrium on the part of society. So why are victims often hit by a second assault in the form of avoidable emotional harm inflicted by the officials and institutions they trust when they reach out for help? That question was appropriately raised several years ago when then-Alberta judge Robin Camp asked a rape victim, “why couldn’t you just keep your knees together?” Bill C-337, already passed by the House of Commons, would have addressed that kind of ignorant comment by requiring federally appointed judges to have training in the brain science of sexual violence. But after sitting on it for more than a year, the Upper Chamber allowed the bill to die. Victims who worry about encountering another Judge Camp in their search for justice saw their hopes die with it. I have heard from many of them at the victim advocacy organization I run. Their sense of betrayal was another milestone on a journey that for so many is a total nightmare. Let’s be clear. While incidents of sexual violence or threatening sexual harassment might last for just minutes, they frequently unleash a cascade of medical and emotional conditions that can devastate a woman’s life for years—even decades. Did the Senators who allowed the bill to die know this—or is it that they just didn’t care? The need for better education on the subject is as epidemic as sexual violence itself. An illuminating study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) earlier this year shows that women who experienced sexual assault and sexual harassment were at significant risk of life-altering medical conditions, including stroke, heart attack, and other forms of heart disease. We wouldn’t tolerate judges smoking in their courts and spewing noxious fumes into the faces of victims. Neither should it be acceptable for them to utter destructive, ill-informed comments that can also lead to toxic outcomes. Much underreported is the fact that when the concerns of victims are mishandled, the aftermath exposes them to serious risk of re-traumatization—even death. U.S. Senator Martha McSally famously described her experience coming forward as a young Air Force pilot after she was sexually assaulted. “I felt the system was raping me all over again,” she told a hushed Senate audience earlier this year. I faced a similar experience this year, too, after coming forward to my former employer about being violently sexually assaulted several years ago. At that time, I was bullied by a powerful man into keeping silent. But the freight train of heavy-handed, victim-blaming lawyers that met my recent efforts for healing made me regret ever revisiting the matter. It also left me coping with a serious downturn in my health. When victims are faced with what sexual violence expert Jennifer Freyd calls institutional betrayal, like McSally was, they also risk falling victim to depression, anxiety, PTSD, and adverse physical outcomes, according to Freyd. Yet, despite the overwhelming evidence of the health consequences associated with sexual violence and related forms of abuse, there continue to be alarming gaps in the delivery of healthcare services to victims. According to Yale University’s Joan Cook, “most health care professionals, such as psychologists, still only have a cursory knowledge of this science and little to no formal training in evidence-based psychosocial treatments for trauma-related disorders.” Unmoved by even a remote brush with these realities, the Senate decided to roll the dice with the lives of women who were depending on it to do the right thing. The proposed law would have been a solid step toward the long overdue goal of preventing harm inflicted by certain judges whose comments reveal them to be little more than jerks in black robes. And it could have prompted a move that might begin to remedy other systemic deficiencies in the way victims are treated. To be fair, it’s not just the Senate that’s the problem here. Refusal by the Ford government in Ontario to provide adequate funding for rape crisis centres is causing victims, like those in the city of Waterloo, to face wait times for counselling of up to 18 months. There needs to be a much more holistic and robust approach to educating all the players, from politicians to judges to healthcare professionals, about the health consequences of sexual violence and the risks of inept or ill-intentioned actors adding to the harm. Who among Canada’s party leaders is willing to take up this challenge and move quickly to give it the priority women are demanding? Half of Canada’s voting population is waiting for the answer. Kathleen Finlay is founder of the ZeroNow Campaign to combat sexual misconduct in the workplace, and CEO of The Center for Patient Protection. She previously worked in Canadian securities regulation. The Hill Times

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Stop letting the system assault victims of sexual violence over and over

The Senate’s failure to pass groundbreaking legislation is just the latest example of women being betrayed by the very institutions they reach out to for help.

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