{"id":8597,"date":"2025-11-12T12:35:01","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/12\/why-some-sexual-assault-survivors-and-advocates-say-the-justice-system-is-failing-them\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T12:35:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T15:35:01","slug":"why-some-sexual-assault-survivors-and-advocates-say-the-justice-system-is-failing-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/12\/why-some-sexual-assault-survivors-and-advocates-say-the-justice-system-is-failing-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Why some sexual assault survivors and advocates say the justice system is failing them"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced\u200b \u200b\u200b\u200bsexual violence or know someone affected by it.  Jewel Pierre-Roscelli figured she had two choices once she realized the man who\u2019d offered to drive her home was instead going to sexually assault her \u2014 she could either fight back and risk her life or survive the night.She chose the latter, eventually escaped, reported the assault and waited for justice.It never came.\u201dWhat this person did to me was wrong. It wasn\u2019t consensual,\u201d Pierre-Roscelli said. \u201cBut the Crown prosecutor called me, and she said based on the evidence that you\u2019ve submitted, we don\u2019t feel it\u2019s enough for him to be charged. She said, \u2018So it\u2019s over.&#8217;\u201dIn that moment, the Winnipegger became part of a national statistic \u2014 one of almost 900,000 people who are sexually assaulted each year in Canada, most of whom don\u2019t get justice in the courts.WATCH | Victims, advocates say sexual assault survivors still aren\u2019t getting justice:Why sex assault survivors say the justice system is failing themSurvivors and advocates describe trauma in their search for justice.\u201dMy life absolutely got turned upside down, and I\u2019ve been trying to just continue surviving,\u201d Roscelli said. \u201cAnd this person just lived their life. They\u2019re still out there living their life.\u201dIt\u2019s why in March 2024, the Office of the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime struck a special task force to assess how survivors of sexual violence are treated in the justice system, and how it impacts both reporting and outcomes.Statistics Canada\u2019s latest data, released in November 2024, said of the approximately 900,000 sexual assaults in a year, six per cent of the victims reported the crime to police.Of those who did report, only about one-third of the cases resulted in charges, and fewer than half of those ended up in convictions.Those statistics aren\u2019t just grim \u2014 they\u2019ve remained virtually unchanged for decades. (In 2000-01, Stats Canada reported that few sexual assault cases ended up in court, and of those that did, they had among the lowest conviction rates of all crimes against persons: 43 per cent).The task force is expected to release their report \u2014 and recommendations to remedy the issue \u2014 on Nov. 19.Trauma counsellor Isabel Daniels has a message for survivors of sex assault: Your story matters. (Warren Kay\/CBC)Survivors and advocates say it\u2019s a long overdue review.\u201dSome of us commit suicide because of these assaults,\u201d said Isabel Daniels, a Winnipeg survivor, who now provides trauma counselling for victims.\u201dSome of us just never live life again. They\u2019re just trying to survive day to day with their mental health \u2026 when this person is still walking with the freedom and the arrogance of getting away with sexual assault.\u201dJewel Pierre-Roscelli doesn\u2019t need the report to tell her how the court system fails sexual assault survivors. She lived it.The justice system was \u201cmade without me in mind. I\u2019m not meant to get justice,\u201d she said.Her ordeal began late one night in Winnipeg, in September 2023. What more do they need?- Jewel Pierre-RoscelliShe\u2019d run into a professional acquaintance at a social. He wanted to party with her afterwards, but she said no. She was drunk. She just wanted to go home.Instead, he drove to a highway outside the city limits, and then to a motel (she had no idea where), where she was sexually assaulted.\u201dI had to think.\u2026 Do I fight and potentially end up be hurt more than what\u2019s going to happen, or just survive?\u201d she said. \u201cI thought he was going to kill me and leave me somewhere.\u201dOnce she escaped, she went to the hospital and reported the assault to police.She quickly learned that her trauma had no place in the legal system. Repeatedly she was asked, \u201cDid you say \u2018No?&#8217;\u201d\u201dWell, did I say yes? No, I didn\u2019t. I didn\u2019t say yes ever. So why did you ask that?\u201d she said. We are working with a justice system that is designed to protect perpetrators.- Alexa BarkleyShe shared everything she had with authorities to prove she did not consent, she said, including text messages she\u2019d sent to the accused prior to the assault, spelling out that she wasn\u2019t interested, she was drunk and she just wanted to go home.It wasn\u2019t enough.\u201cThat\u2019s what I don\u2019t understand. So what? What more do they need?\u201d she said.Alexa Barkley has the same question.\u201dWe are working with a justice system that is designed to protect perpetrators,\u201d said Barkley, a Toronto-based survivor and advocate with EVE \u2014 End Violence Everywhere. \u201cI think we need a complete overhaul, quite frankly.\u201dAt issue, in part, is the concept of consent \u2014 what it looks like and, equally importantly, what it doesn\u2019t look like, she said. Survivor Alexa Barkley is calling for a \u2018complete overhaul\u2019 of the justice system, when it comes to sex assault cases. (Submitted by Alexa Barkley)Sometimes \u201cthere is a huge misunderstanding of what is normal for survivors to do in a traumatic situation,\u201d Barkley said.\u201d\u2018Well, did you say no?\u2019 Obviously if you said \u2018No,\u2019 then you did not consent. But there\u2019s so many scenarios, especially when you slip into that survival mode,\u201d she said.\u201dThe burden of proof is so high to actually convict somebody. So you need so much evidence about consent, and they\u2019re looking for easy ways to determine that.\u201dIsabel Daniels concurred.\u201dYou have to have \u2026 big, huge neon signs or something \u2026 in order for the courts to believe that you didn\u2019t want it.\u201dRenee Lagimodiere, a Crown attorney with Manitoba Justice, has a message for survivors: \u201cWe believe that a sexual assault has happened.\u201dBut she agrees that proving lack of consent \u201ccan be really complicated and complex.\u201d\u201dEspecially when it\u2019s not a clear cut \u2018I said no and I was fighting.\u2019 You know, what you would see from a TV show. That\u2019s not what sexual assaults look like,\u201d she said.\u201dIt\u2019s about what is in the complainant\u2019s mind at the time that this is happening. What is the evidence that we have to establish that?\u201dKaren Bellehumeur said survivors themselves need a lawyer. The Ontario-based former assistant Crown attorney is now in private practice, representing sexual assault survivors.She represented E.M., the complainant in the 2025 trial against five former Canada junior hockey team members. (The five were acquitted.)\u201dSexual assault \u2026 is a crime that in which societal myths and stereotypes continue to prevail,\u201d Bellehumeur said. \u201cThere\u2019s a strongly held perception that if you\u2019ve truly been sexually assaulted, you will do certain things.\u2026 You\u2019ll fight off the offender.\u201d The most affected person in this process is the survivor.- Karen BellehumeurIt\u2019s a myth that sends a message to survivors.\u201dThey question it themselves, and that is a barrier for them to even report it, because they think they\u2019ve done something wrong,\u201d Bellehumeur said.\u201dIt\u2019s really important for not only courts to understand that and judges to understand it, but for survivors to understand it themselves.\u201dBellehumeur is advocating for better legal protection for the victims, with advice from an experienced criminal lawyer who can explain the system.\u201dAnything that they would say to the police or to the Crown must be disclosed to the defence,\u201d she said.\u201dI think it\u2019s only fair to complainants \u2026 that they have someone that they can talk to confidentially, that they don\u2019t have to worry about every word that they\u2019re saying being disclosed to an unfriendly party \u2014 you know, namely, the counsel to the perpetrator.\u201dLawyer Karen Bellehumeur wants sexual assault survivors to have legal support in the courts. \u2018I think it\u2019s only fair to complainants.\u2019 (Submitted by Karen Bellehumeur)Legal counsel for sexual assault survivors isn\u2019t unprecedented; some Ontario programs offer it for victims of crime.\u201cThe reality is the most affected person in this process is the survivor. And the survivor needs to have a little more control and a little bit more protection from the harms that more often than not result in going through the process,\u201d Bellehumeur said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced\u200b \u200b\u200b\u200bsexual violence or know someone affected by it. Jewel Pierre-Roscelli figured she had two choices once she realized the man who\u2019d offered to drive her home was instead going to sexually assault her \u2014 she could either fight back and risk her life or survive the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,127,1],"tags":[116,126],"class_list":["post-8597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indigenous","category-manitoba","category-uncategorized","tag-indigenous","tag-manitoba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}