‘You just went along with it’: Kelowna Mountie appears to dismiss Indigenous girl’s sexual assault complaint
Posted May 14, 2019 7:44 pm.
Last Updated May 15, 2019 2:48 pm.
KELOWNA (NEWS 1130) – The head of a women’s support group is furious with Mounties after video of a Kelowna officer seemingly questioning an Indigenous teen’s sexual assault was posted online.
The video, obtained by APTN, shows the male officer and girl alone in an interview room after the girl said she was sexually assaulted by an acquaintance. The video is from 2012.
“And I think I need you to be a little more honest with me about some of this,” says the unidentified officer at one point in the video.
“I am being honest, I didn’t consent, but I didn’t say no,” replies the girl.
“So, you just went along with it,” responds the officer.
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In another part of the apparently 2 hour long video, the officer asks the girl if she was at all turned on.
“Were you at all turned on during this at all, even a little bit?” he says. “Physically, you weren’t at all responsive to his advances, even maybe subconsciously?”
Battered Women’s Support Services director Angela MacDougall calls it horrific, but indicative of a systemic problem among law enforcement.
“That line of questioning, there’s no value in it. What it does though, is it gives us an indication of the myths about sexual assault, you know, that victims are asking for it, that there was some kind of consent in it,” she tells NEWS 1130.
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“This is so troubling, still, that these myths persist within the institution that exists for the sole purposes of investigating criminal activity and keeping the peace.”
Macdougall notes the officer doesn’t appear to believe the victim of offer any kind of support.
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“The same well worn myths, problematic views about survivors and the ways in which victims are blamed permeate society, for sure, and then is profoundly informing the way police services investigate.”
Battered Women’s Support Services is still figuring out how it will respond to the incident and may file a formal complaint.
