'Is this their investigation process?' Indigenous advocate calls for RCMP transparency after disturbing video

A video showing anRCMP officerfrom West Kelowna, B.C., questioning the validity of anIndigenous teen'ssexualassault reportisraising more questions.

The 2012 video was released as part of disclosure in anongoing civil suit.The CBC is not naming the young womanas she was a minor at the time of the RCMP interview.

Jenna Forbes, executive director of Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative Justice Services Society, was outraged when she saw the video and wants to know what theRCMP's policy is for investigatingsexual assault cases.

"Is this their investigation process?" she asked, speaking about the RCMP'sline of questioning in the video.

In the 2012 video, an officerasksthe 17-year-old if she was "turned on" by the assault. While conducting the interview he's referringto some sheets of paper in his hand, looking down and up as if he is reading from them.

"Because I'm sure that there's an investigation policy and if the [officer]hasn't followed policy we need to know what's going to happen to the officer," Forbes said.

RCMP handling of B.C. sexual assault interview denounced

5 years ago

Duration 3:38

The video was released after a B.C. Supreme Court judge ordered disclosure of material related to the sexual assault case involving a former Kelowna-based social worker.

She says if the officer was referring to a set of questions,formalized in an RCMP policy, the publicshould have access to it.

"Ifthat is the policy, if that is a script, we need to seewhat those scripts look like," Forbes said.

The RCMP told the CBC they cannot comment on the specifics of the case as it "is subject to restrictions under theYouth Criminal Justice Act, an ongoingCriminal Codematter and civil litigation proceedings."

When asked what their policy is regardingsexual assault investigations, the RCMP said their policy is not public.A spokespersontold the CBC thatthe RCMPis currentlydeveloping training programs for officers to do investigations that are trauma-informed and culturally sensitive.

Forced to apologize

Forbes said she was deeply saddened to learn that the woman a teen in foster care at the time was allegedly forced by her social worker to write letters of apology to the accused man and the RCMP for wasting their time.

"I felt betrayed," the woman said in a recent interview with CBC.

She is one of nearly a dozen plaintiffssuing former Kelowna-based social worker Robert Riley Saundersfor allegedly using his position to cut them off from family support and deprive them of funds.

Astatement of response from the ministry has not been filed and none of the allegations have been proven in court.

Forbes said the RCMP must do better to protect vulnerable women.

"When we see opinions trumping an actual investigation,that can allowa predator to walk free," Forbes said.

Extra vulnerability

Indigenous women often face an extra layer of vulnerability of not being believed, according to Marion Buller, the chief commissioner of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

"Alot of the questioning, a lot of the attitude is based in racist stereotypes of Indigenous women that they are somehow more sexually available or that they are more likely to consent than not, based on race," Buller said.

"It just adds an extra dimension to what is the difficult relationship between Indigenous people and all police forces," she added.

She pointed to historical tensionbetween Indigenous women and police including the RCMP'srole in removing children from their homes and taking them to residential school by force that have led to a deep mistrust of the force.

Duringthe inquiry's hearingsBuller said she heard many Indigenouswomen say theywill not report a sexual assaultbecause they believethey will not be heard.

"I'm not finding fault in themat all, but when women don't report to the police, theyarenot being protected and this increased their vulnerability," she said.

Hope for change

The RCMP admits that out ofan estimated635,000incidents of sexual assaultin Canada each year, about 90per cent arenot reported to police. Forbes says she believes thatrate for Indigenous womenis closer to 98 per cent.

If a woman doesn't feel comfortablegoing to a police station, Forbes adds, shecan file a third-party statement with an organization that hasvictim support services or file an affidavit with an advocate.

As for the woman who reported the sexual assault in 2012,she hopes RCMP officers are getting the training they need.

"They should be doing sensitivity training for sexual assault survivors as well as cultural training on how to have a relationship with First Nations people," she said.