Even today, sexual violence survivors struggle to be heard

Published On: January 7, 2020

With the start of the criminal trial of Harvey Weinstein, the pervasiveness of sexual assault is back in the public eye. We have heard people make comments that “the #MeToo Movement has gone too far.”

But it seems the movement hasn’t gone far enough to help survivors of sexual assault be believed when they find the strength to say “this happened to me too.”

According to recent Statistics Canada opinion data, only 47 per cent of men agree that “people who report sexual assault are almost always telling the truth.” At 62 per cent, women who agree with that statement is higher — but not by much.

This finding speaks volumes about our inaccurate cultural beliefs about sexual assault, even after the revelations of #MeToo, when thousands of survivors said they faced this violence, and many said they couldn’t tell anyone what happened.

Paulette Senior, president and CEO of the Canadian Women’s Foundation

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