| NB Women's News - October 17, 2006 |
| Tuesday, 17 October 2006 00:00 |
|
NB Women's News - Oct. 17, 2006 (Défilez vers le bas pour la version française) SEXUAL ASSAULT REPORTS, 2005 - Part 1 Sexual Assaults per 100,000 population (brackets: no. of incidents reported): N.B.: 2005: 68 /100,000 population (511 incidents) 2004: 79 /100,000 (594) 1995: 157 /100,000 (1,181) 1985: 51 /100,000 (371) Canada : 2005: 72 /100,000 population (23,303 incidents) 2004: 72 /100,000 (23,036) 1995: 96 /100,000 (28,234) 1985: 71 /100,000 (18,248) In 2005, for the first time in almost 20 years, New Brunswick's rate of reported sexual assault incidents was below the national average. Ontario had the lowest rate (62), followed by PEI (64). By region: Does a higher rate indicate more sexual assaults or is it evidence of more awareness and willingness to come forward? In any case, wide variations in the rates of sexual assaults reported to police evident between N.B. communities should be of concern to the responsible authorities. In a few districts of comparable size - ex.: Oromocto RCMP, the Acadian Peninsula, Saint John and Fredericton that all have 50,000-70,000 people - the rates of reported sexual assault vary from 53 (Oromocto) to 81 (Acadian Peninsula) in 2005. When we compare areas with 30,000-40,000 people, Kent has a rate of 25 cases/100,000, the lowest in N.B., while Carleton-York, Restigouche-Chaleur and Southeast have higher rates, 59, 63 and 125/100,000 respectively. Bathurst and Grand Falls have had rates significantly higher than the provincial average for over 10 years. Rate per 100,000 population, 2005 (in brackets: no. of incidents reported): Beresford/Nigadoo/Petit-Rocher/Pointe Verte (BNPP) Regional: 190 (18) Grand Falls municipal police force: 171 (10) Bathurst municipal police force: 152 (19) Miramichi municipal police force: 141 (26) Woodstock municipal police force: 130 (7) South East RCMP Dist. 4: 125 (36) Hampton RCMP municipal: 119 (5) Campbellton RCMP municipal: 107 (8) Caledonia RCMP Dist. 11: 90 (16) Cap Pelé RCMP municipal: 83 (2) Acadian Peninsula RCMP Dist. 8: 81 (45) Saint John municipal police force: 79 (56) Kennebecasis RCMP Dist. 3: 74 (32) Edmundston municipal police force: 69 (12) Fredericton municipal police force: 66 (34) McAdam RCMP municipal: 65 (1) Restigouche-Chaleur RCMP Dist. 9: 63 (24) Carleton-York RCMP Dist. 7: 59 (18) Oromocto RCMP Dist. 2: 53 (2) Moncton/Riverview/Dieppe Codiac RCMP: 50 (56) Miramichi RCMP Dist. 6: 47 (7) Sackville RCMP municipal: 40 (3) Oromocto RCMP municipal: 33 (3) Madawaska-Victoria RCMP Dist. 10: 30 (10) Rothesay Regional Police: 29 (8) Charlotte and the Isles RCMP Dist. 1: 26 (7) Kent RCMP Dist. 5: 25 (8) Data includes sexual assaults on male and female, child and adult victims. The small population in some regions may exaggerate rate differences. The areas vary in size from 1,550 in McAdam to 111,150 in Moncton/Dieppe/Riverview. The area policed by the BNPP Regional Police has a population of 9,500; Grand Falls municipal police, 5,850; and Bathurst municipal police, 12,550). - Uniform Crime Reporting Survey data for N.B. police forces provided by Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics; Juristat - Crime Statistics in Canada 2005, v. 26, no 4 www.statcan.ca/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=85-002-X ; Statistics Canada, CANSIM online table 252-0013. ******* NB Women's News******* EVENTS, NOTICES, RESOURCES The Violence Link Symposium - An investigation of animal abuse, family violence and programs to promote healing & decrease violence. Speakers from fields of animal welfare, psychology and law. Thurs. 19 Oct., 9 to 4pm, Hugh John Flemming Ctre, Fredericton. $65. Kindness Club 459-3379; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Websites to monitor re recent federal cuts and changes : www.statusreport.ca to rally support for Status of Women Canada and related issues. http://Communitiesagenda.wordpress.com , the site of the coalition of Canadian non-profit agencies in response to federal cuts to programs. Take Our Kids to Work - Gr. 9 students, Wed., Nov. 1, 2006 during National Career Week, www.takeourkidstowork.ca. Judy Rebick - Free public lecture, Tatamagouche Ctre, Fri. 10 Nov, 7:30pm. Weekend program with Judy Rebick, 10-12 Nov. by Social Justice Institute, $220. 1-800-218-2220 or www.tatacentre.ca or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Secret Remedy For Trades Shortage: Girls - The Nova Scotia Experience - Lunch & Learn with members of Techsploration. Wed. 29 Nov. at noon, Wilmot United Ch. Fredericton. Free if preregistered: click Reply giving name/affiliation. ******* NB Women's News******* MINISTER ODA, IF YOU THINK WOMEN ARE EQUAL ... 1. Minister Oda, please send me 30 cents for every dollar I earn to make up for the wage gap between women and men (OR, instead, your government could adopt new federal pay equity legislation so that women stand a better chance of receiving equal pay for work of equal value.) 2. Minister Oda, please send me a lawyer as I require it for family law matters (OR, instead, provide federal monies for legal aid). 3. Come to my house to provide childcare because the new child care bonus doesn't come close to paying for quality child care (or, instead, invest in high quality, regulated childcare spaces and improve maternity leave program for all). 4. Help me raise thousands so that I can hire a lawyer to fight discriminatory laws and policies (or, instead, reverse your government's decision to eliminate the Court Challenge Program which allowed individuals to fight discrimination) - Excerpts, letter, Nfld Status of Women Central in reaction to recent federal changes, 12 Oct 06. N.B. GROUPS OUTRAGED AT HARPER CHANGES "It will now be more difficult to work towards improving women's equality in New Brunswick and throughout Canada since organizations will no longer be able to access funds for advocating and lobbying for changes in government policy," says Brenda Murphy, Co-ordinator of the Urban Core Support Network. - Excerpts, media release in reaction to the Harper government cut to Status of Women Canada and the removal of equality from the mandate and lobbying and advocacy from the allowed activities of funded groups. www.acswcccf.nb.ca/english/documents/media%20release%20Groups.pdf ******* NB Women's News******* SEXUAL ASSAULT REPORTS, 2005 - Part 2 Percentage of Sexual Assaults Resulting in a Charge N.B.: 2005: 34%; 2004: 33%; 1995: 43%; 1985: 42%. Canada: 2005: 40%; 2004: 41%; 1995: 48%; 1985: 47%. Top 10 N.B. Regions (in brackets: Number of incidents cleared by charge), 2005: Charlotte/the Isles RCMP Dist. 1: 71% of incidents cleared by charge (5 incidents) Miramichi municipal police force: 65% (17) Kent RCMP Dist. 5: 63% (5) Miramichi RCMP Dist. 6: 57% (4) South East RCMP Dist. 4: 56% (20) Edmundston municipal police force: 50% (6) Rothesay Regional Police: 50% (4) Moncton/Riverview/Dieppe Codiac RCMP: 50% (28) Kennebecasis RCMP Dist. 3: 50% (16) Restigouche/Chaleur RCMP Dist. 9: 42% (10) Fewer reports of sexual assault result in charges in N.B. than the national average. In 2005, 34% were cleared by charge in N.B. (176 of 511 reported incidents), compared to the Canadian average of 40%. In N.B. (and in Québec) the Crown prosecutor decides if charges are laid, whereas in most provinces, the investigating police force makes the decision. So is N.B. more or less successful in getting convictions? Conviction rates for 2004/05 will not be released until 2007, but court data from 2003/04 and a few previous years shows that New Brunswick had the best conviction rate for sexual assault charges in Canada. Of charges laid against adults, 52% resulted in a conviction in N.B. in 2003/04, compared to 24% for Canada (36% for Québec, the next best provincial rate). In 2005, the proportion of incidents resulting in charges ranged from 0 in a few small NB municipalities to 71% in Southwest (Charlotte/the Isles RCMP). Explanations might include differences in police investigation techniques, in victim support services and in prosecutor involvement in assessing conviction probability. - Uniform Crime Reporting Survey data for N.B. police forces provided by Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics; Juristat - Crime Statistics in Canada 2005, v. 26, no 4 www.statcan.ca/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=85-002-X ; Statistics Canada, CANSIM online table 252-0013. Conviction rates: data run on the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics Adult Court Survey database, provided by N.B. Dept of Public Safety, Feb. 2005. ******* NB Women's News******* SÉGOLÈNE ROYAL OVERWHELMING FAVOURITE - FRANCE Polls say Ségolène Royal can beat the front-runner on the right, Nicolas Sarkozy, if she was chosen as the Socialist candidate for next spring's presidential election. Her party votes on Nov. 16. Less than a year ago, her candidacy was dismissed as preposterous. "No experience" - even though she has served as education, family and environment minister. "No credibility" - although she is the president of Poitou-Charentes. She blurs political boundaries. "She is the message". She has spent decades in politics; yet, next to rows of greying men in suits, she seems a breath of fresh air. "This makes her a particularly tricky opponent to attack." - France's presidency, 5 Oct 06, The Economist print edition. ******* NB Women's News******* WHAT'S NEXT? FAIR TRIALS? WOMEN VOTING? Some people in Ottawa want to reopen the same-sex marriage debate. Someone has finally decided to crack down on the gangs of roving gay recruitment agents that have fanned out across the country since same-sex marriage legislation was enacted last year. It's about time! The horror stories ...are too numerous to mention. Kidnapped off the streets, boys are being forced to watch The View and Martha Stewart in an effort to chip away at their heterosexuality, while girls are having their makeup confiscated and given flannel shirts as their nouveau-lesbian uniforms. ... And if I see one more story about a clergyman being sued for not wanting to perform a same-sex marriage, I'll just cry. ... It's really too bad that same-sex marriage was rammed through Parliament. How much debate was allotted? Only a few hundred hours? ... And what about all those silly court decisions by those high-falootin' judges who consulted that mysterious cult-like document called "the constitution"? What is this crazy "constitution", anyway? We must get rid of it before it damages Canadian society even more deeply. What's next? Fair trials? Women voting? When the Defense of Religions Act is brought in, I want to see it expanded. If I'm a civil servant and I don't like the look of your face, I should have the right not to serve you. ...If you write with your left hand, you are surely mentally deficient. And don't get me started on the blacks, the natives and the disabled. ...Canadians will be proud that their government acted swiftly and judiciously to ensure that those nasty human rights didn't get in the way of prejudice, intolerance and hatred. - Excerpts, Who needs all that hoity-toity stuff, anyway? Brian Cormier, Times & Transcript, 11 Oct 06. ******* NB Women's News******* AS THEY SAY Men who want to support women in our struggle for freedom and justice should understand that it is not terrifically important to us that they learn to cry; it is important to us that they stop the crimes of violence against us. - Andrea Dworkin (1946-2006). "The Rape Atrocity and the Boy Next Door," speech, 1 March 1975, Our Blood, 4 1976. Forward this e-newsletter to a friend, inviting them to subscribe by emailing "SUBSCRIBE" to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
|