Officers hope new training will improve how police respond to sexual assault survivors who come forward

WARNING: This story contains discussion of sexual violence.

Police officers from northwestern Ontario say they hope new training they've developed will improve the response of officers across Canada when survivors of sexual violence report crimes, including handling them with sensitivity.

Developers of the training, which is set to be made available by the end of this month through the Ontario Police Video Training Alliance (OPVTA), say it should be mandatory for all officers, as sexual violence continues to be one of the most under-reported crimes in Canada.

"In my opinion in 20 years of policing, I believe that we've probably done more harm than good in the past. That's because untrained officers are conducting video statements with sexual assault victims, and unfortunately, I feel like we may have added to ongoing issues for a survivor," said Alana Morrison, detective sergeant with the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (a First Nation service in Treaty 9 communities across northern Ontario) and lead for its sexual assault support program.

Research estimates one in four North American women will be sexually assaulted during their lifetime, with an estimated 600,000 sexual assaults happening in Canada every year.

Yet only about six per cent of sexual assaults were reported to police, according to a 2021 report on police-reported crime statistics by Statistics Canada.

A 2022 study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Interpersonal Violence looked at the experiences of 23 women who reported a sexual assault to police, and found the women often felt they were treated with insensitivity, and faced blaming questions, lack of investigation and lack of followup from police.

Morrison said she hopes this new training program will change that.

The training consists of three hour-long videos, each showing officers as they take statements, each in different situations: Human trafficking, childhood sexual assault, and sexual trauma experienced by an Indigenous survivor.

After the interviews are completed, the video shows commentary from trauma and legal experts, as well as reflections from the officer and the survivor about the experience.

Det. Staff Sgt. Dayna Wellock is an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) detective staff sergeant and the lead for the victim response support unit for the service's northwest unit. She applied for funding and led development of the new training.

Police officers have been receiving training to learn about how trauma affects the brain for several years, Wellock said, but it often doesn't show how to put that knowledge into practice.

"The gap is, what does that actually look like when you're interviewing a victim of sexual assault or other violent crime?" Wellock said.

"The idea [in the new video training] was to give something for the officers that's very tangible and a really good example they can follow, and understand what a trauma-informed statement actually looks like in practice."