A Squamish resident is pleading for other women who have been sexually assaulted to report the crime to police.
While on a date last fall, Dennika* says a man put drugs in her drink and, once she passed out, proceeded to rape her.
She was ashamed and tried to block the horrible crime from her memory. Weeks later, a friend, who had also been sexually assaulted a few years ago, urged her to report it to the Squamish RCMP.
After researching sexual assault online, Dennika realized a woman is most likely to be raped by a serial offender who they already know. In the vast majority of cases, these women don’t come forward to the police for a variety of reasons – being scared, embarrassed or wanting to forget about the incident, to name a few – leaving many crimes unsolved.
“Please talk about it, report it to the police. Don’t be ashamed, it’s not your fault. This could be the most empowering thing you can do about it and maybe, maybe this might save someone else to be assaulted by the same serial rapist,” Dennika told The Squamish Chief.
As part of an investigation on the rate of sexual assaults in Canada, The Globe and Mail published data for nearly every community in the country. In 2014, the most recent year information is available, 28 women in Squamish reported to the police that they were sexually assaulted, which includes any type of sexual contact or behaviour that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Between 2010 and 2013, the number fluctuated between 22 and 38 allegations.
Given adjustments for population size, these troubling numbers represent 142 offences per 100,000 people living in Squamish in 2014, a rate that is more than double that of North Vancouver and almost as much as Whistler.
According to David Lisak, who published an article called Why Rapists Run Free, most rapists do so multiple times, meaning that if his findings are true for Squamish, many of the sexual assaults reported would be by the same men.
“Regardless of the nature of the initial rape, whether the victim was sober and drinking tea at a church social, or intoxicated and dancing at a local bar, it is extremely likely that the assailant is a serial offender,” wrote Lisak.
This is why Dennika says it’s even more important for women in Squamish, and every community, to report being sexually assaulted to the police.
“We can be part of the solution by raising our voices, by talking about it, especially to the authorities. If 100 per cent of victims talk about it, even if nothing changes anywhere else in the system, there should be an increase of 1,000 per cent of investigations and convictions,” she said.
Serial rapists common
In Squamish, the majority of sexual assault allegations don’t end up with criminal charges being laid. Between 2010 and 2014, according to the data collected by The Globe and Mail, an average of 22 per cent of allegations resulted in a charge.
Similar statistics, with the number rarely reaching above 50 per cent, exist for most communities in B.C., while other cities such as Toronto boast a rate of 79 per cent of cases leading to criminal charges.
Since most men who rape women are serial rapists, Dennika is hoping that if more women report the crime, then evidence will build up, leading to a higher likelihood that a criminal charge will be laid.
Only 10 per cent of sexual assaults are reported to the police, according to Women Against Violence Against Women, a rape crisis centre in Vancouver. This statistic would mean nearly 300 people could have been sexually assaulted in Squamish in 2014, since 28 people made a report. Further, only around one per cent of “date rape” sexual assaults are reported, according to sexassault.ca.
“If we all report what’s going on, then these men will have a better chance at being put in jail and not able to hurt any more women,” Dennika said.
Testifying against a serial rapist is something that Susan Chapelle, now a councillor for the District of Squamish, knows firsthand.
Back in 1991 in Toronto, she went to a man’s house in the early afternoon to buy a potbelly pig and was casually offered a glass of wine.
She woke up nine hours later confused, with her clothes on backwards and feeling sore. The man told Chapelle that she had fallen asleep and then drove her back home.
A week later, the potbelly pig and flowers were dropped off at her doorstep, but even that wasn’t enough for Chapelle to go to the police. Instead, she decided it was a bad experience and the result of her not being cautious enough.
The man turned out to be Selva Kumar Subbiah, who came to Canada from Malaysia in 1980. By the time police caught up with him, he had drugged, sexually assaulted and photographed an estimated 1,000 women, leading to him being referred to as Canada’s most prolific serial rapist.
After spending 24 years behind bars in Ontario, it was announced earlier this year that Sabbiah will be put on a plane back to Malaysia.
He wrote 400 victims’ names – including Chapelle’s – in a black book that rated them on a scale of zero to 10. It was with this that the police in Toronto were able to contact Chapelle, who testified against Sabbiah in 1992.
Of the 1,000 women he assaulted, none reported him.
“At the time, you’re feeling a lot of shame in being in a circumstance you think you could have controlled. For me, I went to a stranger’s house and drank a glass of wine. It had drugs in it,” Chapelle told The Squamish Chief. “There’s no other crime where you are treated the way you do when you report it. We hear of women being asked what they were wearing at the time, did they have hair extensions in? You’re never asked this if you report any other crime.”
Watch your drink
Often, women are also afraid they won’t be believed.
Between two and eight per cent of reports of sexual assault are false – made up – according to research by Stanford University. But the number of “unfounded” cases, in which the investigator does not believe a criminal offence occurred or was attempted, is often much higher.
In Squamish, according to data collected by The Globe and Mail, nine per cent of cases were unfounded between 2010 and 2014. This number is relatively low compared to Whistler, which is at 25 per cent, and North Vancouver at 11 per cent.
Dennika would like to see a better warning system put in place so women are better able to look out for themselves.
To warn others, she would like the Squamish RCMP to report when a sexual assault has taken place, only with the victim’s permission to do so and while withholding her identity and other information.
“I would have liked to have known if people are being sexually assaulted in Squamish. Knowing this would have made me more cautious and I think would help other women,” she said. “Having this information in the newspaper would really help a lot of women.”
But, said Squamish RCMP Staff Sgt. Jolaine Percival, the police don’t report sexual assault (or domestic violence) because they don’t want to pin-point one person, even if the name is withheld. However, the occurrence of certain sexual assaults will be made public if there is an increasing trend – more women reporting – in Squamish, she added.
She says it’s important for women to watch their drinks when they are out – both Dennika and Chapelle reported their drinks were drugged – and tell friends where they’re going, including if it’s on a date.
“Go with someone else if you don’t know the person you’re meeting or tell friends where you’re going and have a check-in time. If you leave your drink alone, don’t drink it,” she advises.
If a sexual assault does occur, Percival says the investigation will be done with compassion and consideration to the person who reported the crime, while also gathering the evidence by, optimally, audio and video recording.
“It’s best to get all the information as soon as possible so we can try to identify the person,” she said, adding that victim services will provide help and support.
If you want to report being sexually assaulted or access victim services, call the Squamish RCMP at 604-892-6100.
*A different name has been used to help protect her identity.
