Letter addressed to the Honourable Minister Anandasangaree on Rethinking Justice for Survivors of Sexual Violence
November 27, 2025
The Honourable Gary Anandasangaree
Minister of Public Safety,
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Re: Rethinking Justice for Survivors of Sexual Violence
Dear Minister Anandasangaree,
On November 19, 2025, I released a report entitled Rethinking Justice for Survivors of Sexual Violence: A Systemic Investigation. As the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime, a critical part of my role is to identify and review emerging and systemic issues that negatively impact victims of crime and to recommend ways the federal government can improve the treatment of victims and survivors in Canada.
While we acknowledge much progress has been made to improve access to justice for victims of sexual violence, statistics show that only 6% of survivors report sexual violence. Those who do report continue to experience barriers, gaps, and violations of their victim rights, bringing the criminal justice system into disrepute.
This report examines how Canada’s justice system responds to survivors of sexual violence, identifies systemic barriers, and provides 43 actionable recommendations aimed at fostering a more compassionate, survivor-centered approach to justice. The recommendations are designed to strengthen access to justice, improve survivor experiences, and enhance public confidence in the justice system.
The report identifies 10 key ideas:
- Fully investigate sexual violence
- Minimize harm from R v. Jordan
- Better protect therapeutic records
- Humanize cross-examination
- Offer testimonial aids automatically
- Provide effective rights and representation
- Stop redacting victim impact statements
- Prioritize access to services
- Allow restorative justice options
- Collect (better) data for accountability
Given the importance of these findings, we have respectfully requested a management response from the Department of Justice to each of the 43 recommendations within six months of the report’s release.
Leadership and engagement are critical to ensuring that survivors of sexual violence are treated with dignity, fairness, and respect within Canada’s justice system.
We submitted our report to the Minister of Justice, and are also sending a copy of our report to the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State (Combatting Crime), and the Minister of Women and Gender Equality.
Our Office looks forward to continuing to work constructively with you and your team as our recommendations to improve experiences of survivors of sexual violence, to respect victim rights, and to re-establish trust in a system that is supposed to seek truth and protect victims are implemented.
We know that we can do better, and we are grateful for your commitment to better protecting survivors of sexual violence.
I welcome the opportunity to discuss our report in more detail with you at your convenience.
Sincerely,
//Original signed by//
Benjamin Roebuck,
Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime
Dr. Benjamin Roebuck
Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime
Office of the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime
Department of Justice Canada
Dear Dr. Roebuck:
Thank you for your correspondence of November 27, 2025, regarding the release of your report entitled Rethinking Justice for Survivors of Sexual Violence: A Systemic Investigation.
Firstly, I would like to commend you for your thorough review of the experiences of survivors of sexual violence in the criminal justice system. Your report provides important insights and actionable recommendations that will help strengthen access to justice, and improve outcomes of survivors. I agree with you that survivors should be treated with dignity, fairness, and respect, and we need to re-establish trust in our judicial systems.
Your report highlights ten ideas that merit careful consideration. Please be assured that officials are reviewing the report thoroughly and giving careful consideration to its findings and recommendations. As you note, Justice Canada is the lead on the Federal Victim Strategy, and the Public Safety Canada team at the National Office for Victims will work closely with Justice Canada counterparts to contribute to any management response developed for this purpose.
Our Government takes matters of sexual violence seriously. That is why we introduced Bill C-16, Protecting Victims Act, in the House of Commons on December 9, 2025. This Bill aims to crack down on sexual violence and intimate-partner violence, protect children from online harm, and enhance victims’ rights in the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights and access to information under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA). Bill C-16 amends the CCRA to, among other things, enhance the disclosure of information to victims of federal offenders and provide for the submission of victim statements in certain instances. You will find that several provisions in Bill C-16 reflect recommendations from this report as well as from previous reports.
Bill C-16 is the next step in our multi-phased approach to support safer communities and enhance confidence in the criminal justice system, building on Bill C-9, Combatting Hate Act (introduced on September 19, 2025) and Bill C-14, Bail and Sentencing Report Act (introduced on October 23, 2025). These initiatives together are critical to better protecting victims and survivors of crime.
I value your commitment to improving access to justice for survivors, and look forward to continued collaboration on these critical issues. Your efforts to promote dignity, fairness, and respect for survivors is greatly appreciated.
Thank you again for the important work you do.
Sincerely,
The Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, P.C., K.C., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety
c.c.: The Honourable Sean Fraser, P.C., K.C., M.P.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and
Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
The Honourable Ruby Sahota, P.C., M.P. Secretary of State (Combatting Crime)