Majority of Canadians believe most sexual assault claims are true: poll
Posted May 2, 2016 8:29 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – In the weeks after the not guilty verdict in the Jian Ghomeshi case, there has been a lot of concern that women who come forward with sexual assault complaints aren’t always taken seriously.
But a new poll is suggesting a majority of Canadians believe most claims are true. Two thirds of us fall into that category, according to the Canadian Women’s Foundation.
Diane Hill is the organization’s senior director of public engagement. She says the poll finds only one per cent of people in our country believe most claims are untrue, and seven per cent think they’re exaggerated.
“Most claims of sexual assault are true,” she says.
“Research shows over and over again that false claims are no different than false claims for any other kind of crime like burglary or something like that. And it’s really important to crack this myth because too often, people who are sexually assaulted feel they have to stay silent for fear of people’s reactions. That keeps the issue buried; it means reporting rates are very low, and… it means [people are] not getting the support they need. Research also shows that there’s a lot of very negative long-term impacts on people who are sexually assaulted.”
Nearly a quarter of people asked in the poll don’t know what to believe.
Hill says the numbers are encouraging.
“We think this poll can give hope that if someone does disclose, it’s likely that they will be believed. But I think people need to continue to educate themselves, to learn how to support victims if they come forward, to not ask those victim-blaming questions — without meaning to, possibly.”
The foundation cites statistics that claim there are more than a half million sexual assaults against women every year in Canada — and most are not reported. It defines sexual assault as any kind of unwanted activity, from touching to attacks.
The foundation is launching a month-long campaign today to end violence in Canada — the aim is to create the first generation to be free of violence against women. Go to gen1.ca for more information.
