When sexual assault victims come forward, who ensures justice will be served?
Michelle Schryer, the executive director of the Chatham-Kent Sexual Assault Crisis Centre, says the onus isn't just on police, but the courts too.
Schryer says a Globe and Mail investigation into how officers handle sexual assault cases is an opportunity to address these issues.
"We know that false allegations of sexual assault are rare," she says. "I can tell you that the vast majority of women who access Crisis Centre services do not report to police and never see the inside of a courtroom. So this is not new information."
The Globe found one in every five sexual assault allegations in Canada are dismissed by police as baseless. In urban Chatham-Kent, the unfounded rate is nearly one in three.
In an emailed statement, Chatham-Kent Police Chief Gary Conn told BlackburnNews.com he thinks a coding or classification issue may be influencing the statistics, but nonetheless, the service is reviewing its policies and procedures. Schryer hopes something positive comes from it.
"Even if the rate is less than 31%, I think we need to ensure in Chatham-Kent we have an effective response to allegations of sexual assault - from the investigation and including the justice process," says Schryer, adding she's reached out to Conn to discuss the municipality's unfounded rate.
But beyond police, the conversation is already starting.
"In Chatham-Kent we do have a committee -- so it's community organizations and justice partners working together - to address issues as they relate to domestic violence," she says. "The work of that committee is expanding to include sexual violence."
The committee is expected to be ready by April.