Two research projects on police department responses to sexual violence and harassment cases have received funding from the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
Carleton Law and Legal Studies Professors Dawn Moore, Dale Spencer, Diana Majury, Doris Buss, and George Rigakos won grants totalling more than $275,000 for their research, supported by the Government of Ontario’s Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan.
“These projects will investigate an urgent topic that affects the most vulnerable populations in our society,” said André Plourde, Dean of the Faculty of Public Affairs. “We are so proud of these researchers, who are addressing the crucial need for high-quality public affairs research.”
The researchers were recognized by Yasir Naqvi, the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services and the MPP for Ottawa Centre, as well as Marie-France Lalonde, the MPP for Ottawa-Orléans, at an announcement on February 5th on the Carleton University campus.
Sexual Violence on Ontario University Campuses
Associate Professor Dawn Moore’s research team will be investigating incidents of sexual violence against university students by members of the university community, focusing specifically on the relationships between post-secondary educational institutions and the police.
The collaborators include Professors Majury, Buss, and Rigakos in the Department of Law and Legal Studies, as well as Professor Rashmee Singh from the University of Waterloo. The team will be exploring the relationships between campus and municipal police services in the reporting and investigation of sexual violence cases as well as in the policies and procedures used, recording practices employed, and in the way victims experience the investigation.
Their objective is to generate data that will assist police organizations in developing a “compassionate and sensitive response to sexual assault survivors and to gather much needed information on the investigation, reporting, and recording of sexual violence cases on university campuses in Ontario”.
Policing Sexual Violence Online and in the Community
While he was studying the police response to sexual violence, Assistant Professor Dale Spencer found that the online and offline worlds of sexual violence and harassment have become increasingly enmeshed, making it difficult for police agencies to treat them as separate entities.
In response, Professor Spencer intends to study how the police are investigating sexual violence and harassment both on screen and off.
He will use his findings to inform community stakeholders, police services, and government agencies about the convergences and differences between police responses and the networks created to respond to victims of sex crime in different communities.
Both projects stem from the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services (MCSCS) funding for original research projects that identify key issues in reporting of sexual violence—including sexual assaults and harassment—by victims/survivors to the police as well as best practices for police investigations and responses to support victims and survivors of sexual violence and harassment.