
Photo by Whitehorse Star
Pictured above: BARBARA MCINERNEY
Photo by Whitehorse Star
Pictured above: BARBARA MCINERNEY
New survey results give insight into how women and girls perceive personal and community safety in Whitehorse.
New survey results give insight into how women and girls perceive personal and community safety in Whitehorse.
Signatories of the Together for Safety protocol, which include the Whitehorse RCMP and women’s advocacy groups, have released results from their 2016 survey.
It was completed by 147 women and girls in the city.
“One of our goals was to hear the voices of women and girls in our community and get some feedback from them on what would make them feel safer and what makes them feel unsafe also,” Barbara McInerney, the executive director of the Yukon Women’s Transition Home Society, told the Star.
The survey found that good lighting, emergency responders, neighbours, being with other people and having a cell phone, make women and girls feel safe in the city.
And survey respondents identified public buildings and facilities and women-focused agencies as safe places.
The survey also detailed things that make women and girls feel unsafe in Whitehorse.
These include dark empty areas, inebriation and substance use, aggressive behaviour, crime, RCMP response time to calls and access to transit and phones.
Of the survey respondents, 63 stated they had been a victim of crime and 44 said they reported the crime to Whitehorse RCMP.
They reported a comfort level of 5.6 out of 10 when they reported to police.
Meanwhile, those who hadn’t identified as a victim of crime said they anticipated a comfort level of seven out of 10 should they report to police in the future.
Recommendations that came out of the survey include the need for better feedback on the outcome of reporting, access to female and empathetic police officers, knowing that victims would be taken seriously, anonymity and being accompanied by a friend or support service.
There were also calls for better mental health and medical care, improved transit and safe affordable housing.
Respondents also identified the need for a cultural shift for respect for all women and girls.
As well, they called for more education to prevent violence and abuse in the city.
McInerney hopes to implement many of the suggestions from the survey.
“Certainly it is a goal of ours that when we put a survey out and we get some really positive, tangible things that we can do, that we do everything we can to make sure those things are done,” she said.
“We’re going to do everything we can to listen to the public and keep women and girls safer in our community.”
But she said the survey may not have reached some of the most vulnerable women and girls in Whitehorse.
She noted that 55 per cent of the respondents own a home, apartment or condo, 18 per cent were 21 to 30 years of age, and only three per cent were 20 and younger.
McInerney says women’s groups across the Yukon have been meeting with the RCMP on a regular basis to talk about tough issues and how to best enhance the response to victims of violence.
“That work will continue; this is just a start,” she said.
One of the projects they are working on is a series of videos that will be available online so victims of violence can make informed decisions.
The videos will detail options if a person chooses not to report violence, what the process will look like if they do report, and resources that are available to them.
Last year, according to police-reported data, there were 1,555 violent Criminal Code of Canada violations in the Yukon.
Of that number, the majority were level one assaults at 794. And 68 were indecent or harassing communications, 263 uttering threats, 74 level one sexual assaults, and one aggravated sexual assault.
And national data have shown that the majority of sexual assaults are not reported to police.
Based on self-reported data, Statistics Canada says that only five per cent of sexual assaults were reported to police across Canada in 2014.
The Together for Safety protocol was signed in May 2015 with the goal of improving response services for women in Whitehorse.
It outlines how the Whitehorse RCMP and other signatories will work together to foster a community that is safe for all women.
The safety perception survey was released during last year’s 12 Days to End Violence Against Women campaign.
The survey period ran for 12 days, from Nov. 25 to Dec. 6, 2016.
In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.
Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.
Comments (5)
Up 10 Down 4
Josey Wales on Sep 2, 2017 at 7:39 am
Meanwhile in the actual news...a lady not representing every Venus, was trying to cite which better ignites, regular or premium gasoline...when one wishes to burn someone alive.
Sorry begging special interest group, sugar and spice very often is not that nice. Translated...they too add to our violence and reason to fear for ones safety in this cosmopolitan eutopia that is Whitehorse.
Personally I would like a community that is safe for EVERYONE....oh the humanity eh?
Enough of the identity politics and catering to special interest with their own agenda.
Guess it hurts less for men when they get beat, stabbed and yes sexually assaulted....is that not some screwed up rationale?
Safe for everyone, why is that so radical?
Up 5 Down 6
Politico on Sep 2, 2017 at 6:57 am
@Jk, your response is the reason we get studies like that. On the one hand the study says women feel threatened In Whitehorse, you say we need a study for this? Next someone says it's common sense and you say that can't be proven! Don't you love a subject you can criticize no matter the reason and the outcome.
@Nile, really. That's the best response you can come up with. Since when is being a victim a special interest group. Some people just don't like being abused. Are abuse victims a special interest group?
Up 4 Down 0
jc on Aug 30, 2017 at 10:09 pm
Who are the most vulnerable women and girls in Whitehorse?
Up 31 Down 7
Nile on Aug 30, 2017 at 8:19 am
Survey designed by special interest women's groups says that special interest women's groups need more money. Well colour me surprised.
Up 26 Down 1
Kj on Aug 30, 2017 at 7:15 am
I read the first two paragraphs. We needed a survey to tell us that?? Really?
How much did that cost?