{"id":24846,"date":"2025-07-26T06:08:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T06:08:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/24846\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T06:08:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T06:08:12","slug":"after-the-hockey-canada-verdict-advocates-fear-survivors-will-fall-silent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/24846\/","title":{"rendered":"After the Hockey Canada verdict, advocates fear survivors will fall silent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

London Abused Women’s Centre Executive Director Jennifer Dunn says the Hockey Canada trial verdict may encourage survivors to stay silent about their experiences.Sammy Kogan\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Jennifer Dunn\u2019s already difficult job got a little bit harder this week, she said.<\/p>\n

Ms. Dunn is the executive director of the London Abused Women\u2019s Centre, an organization that provides counselling and support for women and girls in the region who have been abused, trafficked or sexually assaulted.<\/p>\n

One of the major challenges organizations like hers encounters is helping survivors feel safe enough to seek help.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is just this overarching fear of not being believed,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter what happened yesterday, I think it\u2019s a real possibility that some may choose to stay silent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Dunn is referring to the verdict in the Hockey Canada trial.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Ms. Dunn was inside the London courthouse to hear Justice Maria Carroccia\u2019s acquittal of all the accused players.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s everything you need to know about the Hockey Canada sexual-assault trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Read the judge\u2019s full decision in Hockey Canada sexual-assault trial<\/a><\/p>\n

Five members of Canada\u2019s 2018 world junior team \u2013 Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dub\u00e9 and Cal Foote \u2013 had been on trial for the alleged sexual assault of a woman in a London, Ont. hotel seven years ago after a Hockey Canada gala.<\/p>\n

Justice Carroccia found all of them not guilty<\/a>, which Ms. Dunn said was not surprising given how rare guilty findings are in sexual assault cases. What was shocking, she said, is the way in which the judge seemed to attack the complainant in the case, a woman known publicly as E.M.<\/p>\n

In an unusual move, Justice Carroccia not only determined that the Crown had not met its burden of proof, she concluded that E.M. had consented to the sexual activity, despite her testimony otherwise. The judge rejected claims from E.M. that she had acquiesced to sexual demands from the players because she had been afraid and intoxicated. <\/p>\n

And furthermore, Justice Carroccia concluded that E.M. had been the instigator of sexual activity in the hotel room, accepting a narrative put forward by the players\u2019 defence teams.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Demonstrators in support of E.M. rally outside the London, Ont., courthouse on Thursday, ahead of the Hockey Canada trial verdict.Sammy Kogan\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all kind of very unsettled, not necessarily because of the decision, but how it happened. There was no accountability for the men at the centre of this case,\u201d Ms. Dunn said. \u201cNot even a message of: \u2018Hey, don\u2019t get yourself in that situation again.\u2019 They placed it all on E.M. And that\u2019s where our anger lies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Dunn, who took part in demonstrations outside the courthouse during the players\u2019 eight-week trial, said the judge\u2019s comments about E.M. underscore many survivors\u2019 worst fears about what could happen if they come forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t remember the judge\u2019s exact words, but when she started, she was talking about how rape myths have no place in the courts, and then she went right on into rape myths,\u201d Ms. Dunn said.<\/p>\n

Robyn Urback: #MeToo changed our culture, but it couldn\u2019t change our courts<\/a><\/p>\n

The key legal issues at the heart of the Hockey Canada verdict<\/a><\/p>\n

The case will undoubtedly give some survivors pause before going to police, Ms. Dunn said, but she also worries that it could stop some from reaching out for support from advocacy groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a huge job to do now and we already had a huge job,\u201d she said. (Ms. Dunn noted that her organization never presses survivors to report to police, although they can provide support if individuals choose to.)<\/p>\n

At St. Joseph\u2019s Hospital in London, health professionals who work with sexual assault complainants are also on the look out for possible shifts.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur ears will be open,\u201d said Susan McNair, who is the medical director of the Regional Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Treatment Program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re more than aware that this may have a significant impact on some survivors and we\u2019ll be there to support them. We\u2019ll be doing our work with the same commitment and understanding,\u201d Dr. McNair said.<\/p>\n

At the bars lining London\u2019s streets, the Hockey Canada verdict hits close to home<\/a><\/p>\n

The program is one of 37 across the province. The centre at St. Joseph\u2019s Hospital is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and offers three aspects of care: acute medical care after an incident, forensic collection and psychological care in the short and long-term.<\/p>\n

Cassandra Fisher, who is the program\u2019s clinical manager, said that while the program can\u2019t comment on Thursday\u2019s verdict, it can acknowledge that events like this can deeply impact survivors and their families.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything we offer is grounded in choice and confidentially and I think that is especially important as we move forward in this environment,\u201d Ms. Fisher said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, it\u2019s really important for people to understand that we don\u2019t work for the police. We can work alongside them if that is the choice of the individual who is coming through our program, but they do have the autonomy to make the choice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: London Abused Women’s Centre Executive Director Jennifer Dunn says the Hockey Canada trial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24847,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,44,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-24846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-news","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}