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Edmonton police review sexual assault files

Last Updated Mar 5, 2021 at 8:43 am MDT

EDMONTON (660NEWS) — The Edmonton Police Service’s (EPS) Sexual Assault Section said it’s working with the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton (SACE) to better serve the needs of sexual assault survivors.

Police are participating in Sexual Violence Advocacy Case reviews, a Canadian initiative that aims to improve response to investigating sexual assaults and violence against women.

Officers hope to accomplish this by determining if there were any instances of implicit gender bias that could have compromised an investigation.

Inspector Sean Armstrong, with the EPS’ Serious Crimes Branch said, “this police-community initiative is part of an overall commitment to serving sexual assault survivors better and to do that, we need to understand the challenges survivors face in reporting sexual assault and how these cases are handled.”

The review team will take a second look at police files that did not lead to charges, and provide feedback to ensure the needs of sexual assault survivors are being met.

According to literature spanning more than 40 years, a primary factor in underenforcement in violence-against-women is the influence of systemic and social gendered bias against victims of sex crimes, which can influence the initial response to an investigation. It can also lead to concluding a sexual assault case as “unfounded.”

Following each review, results will be given to the EPS Sexual Assault Section, shared with police and incorporated into future sexual assault investigative training.