The province has been working on a strategy to help prevent and address sexual violence and on Friday released a best practice guide to help law enforcement investigate and support survivors of sexual assaults.

In Canada, women and girls are the most affected by sexual violence and it is the only crime that has not declined over the years.

Experts say 95 percent of offences go unreported and it is often because the victims are afraid, face stigma or blame themselves.

“The decision to report sexual violence is deeply personal and can be extremely difficult. We know only a fraction of sexual assaults come to the attention of the criminal justice system every year,” said Stephanie McLean, Minister of Status of Women and Service Alberta. “Survivors, we need them to feel empowered. We need them to come forward and report and to know that they’ll be treated with dignity and respect.”

“These crimes frequently have no witnesse, other than the survivor and the accused, and little evidence,” said Kathleen Ganley, Minister of Justice and Solicitor General. “Survivors often have ongoing relationships with their attackers and may be fearful of reporting incidences of violence.”

“We know how difficult it is for survivors to come forward and report to police for so many different reasons. One of the biggest barriers that survivors face are the damaging myths about victim blaming and shaming. Survivors internalize these stereotypes themselves about victim culpability. Also the people most often targeted to be sexually assaulted are those who are marginalized or discriminated against in our communities so speaking out about what has happened to them is doubly hard for them,” said Deb Tomlinson, CEO, Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley declared May Sexual Violence Awareness month and a committee consisting of ministries and community agencies was formed to create a best practice guide to help police investigate sex crimes.

The committee’s goal was to improve support for survivors, develop consistency in law enforcement response and to find gaps in service in the criminal justice system.

“While Alberta has had existing provincial standards to ensure that all cases, including sexual assault cases, receive thorough investigation, the committee recognized sexual assault presents a challenge for police officers,” said Ganley.

“Law enforcement plays an important role in how we respond to sexual violence and support survivors,” said McLean.

The guide is intended to give police a clear and consistent framework to conduct effective and thorough sexual assault investigations.

‘This new guide will help officers understand and respect the effects the trauma can have on a survivor’s physical, psychological and emotional well-being. This will help ensure sexual assault cases are investigated in a way that treats survivors with dignity, empathy and respect,” said Ganley. “The new guide provides best practices for police organizations to follow during all phases of the investigation from initial response to the complaint through interviews with survivors and suspects, evidence collection and the decision whether or not to lay charges.”

“I think this is an opportunity for us to say the Calgary Police Service, the Government of Alberta and the justice system in general wants to be there to be a sign of support. It is very difficult, as we can imagine, to be somebody who’s experienced such harm, such indignity and such tragedy to want to come forward but knowing there are people there who are willing to reach out, they’re willing to support, they’re willing to help around that path back to dignity, is important and having policing play a role in that having the willingness and the courage to want to fully engage with community advocates to make sure we’re doing everything we possibly can to find supports. It’s important and this manual will be an opportunity for policing everywhere in this province to advance itself and to become leaders in the idea of what a victim needs and where support will really come from,” said Chief Roger Chaffin, Calgary Police Service.

The committee is now working on a new sexual violence training curriculum for police recruits, which is based on the new best practice guide.

Click HERE to download the Best practice guide for law enforcement investigations into sexual violence.