Data and Accountability
“Data collection is so important. Need consistency across the provinces and territories.
If we don’t have data, it’s hard to identify gaps in marginalized communities.”[1]
ISSUE
Canada collects comprehensive data across the criminal justice system, but there are gaps.
KEY IDEAS
- Data are needed on decisions that affect survivors like subpoenas for therapeutic records or access to testimonial aids. Disaggregated data is essential to address systemic barriers and support marginalized communities
- Data transparency and accessibility are critical for accountability, survivor trust and effective policy reforms
BOTTOM LINE
Canada needs a coordinated, outcomes-based data strategy to track sexual violence cases, close systemic gaps, and ensure accountability. Without comprehensive, disaggregated, and accessible data, Canada’s criminal justice system cannot measure progress or effective responses to sexual violence.
RECOMMENDATIONS
10.1 Establish a national data strategy: The federal government should develop and implement a coordinated, multi-jurisdictional data strategy to improve the collection, sharing, and analysis of outcomes-based data on sexual violence.
Our investigation
Specific actions
We are grateful to Statistics Canada who met with us and provided us an opportunity to peer review the Juristat article Criminal Justice Outcomes of Sexual Assault in Canada, 2015 to 2019[2] prior to its publication in November 2024. We welcome many future collaborations.
Background
A society’s ability to identify issues, design evidence-based solutions, and measure the effectiveness of outcomes begins with the question, “What do we know?” The answer to this often leads back to the quality of the information we collect, including both quantitative and qualitative data.
Experiences of real people and critical choices around what information to count and collect, what questions to ask, and who to ask, all contribute to building narratives about the safety, equality, well-being, opportunity, and protections provided to the citizens of any nation state.
- Principle 1 of the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics begins with:
“Official statistics provide an indispensable element in the information system of a democratic society, serving the Government, the economy and the public with data about the economic, demographic, social and environmental situation.” [3]
Assessing the effectiveness and responsiveness of Canada’s Criminal Justice System (CJS) to crimes of sexual violence requires detailed, ongoing open access to outcomes-based data at all levels of the CJS. It further requires a deeper understanding of who wants the data, what they need to know, the costly impacts of knowledge gaps over time, and Canada’s ability to progress in ending gender-based violence (GBV).
Dr. Kim Stanton led a similar inquiry into The British Columbia Legal System’s Treatment of Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence, released in June 2025, included a recommendation to create a GBV data strategy with many sectors collaborating and noted:
“The Review found that fragmented data systems across police, prosecutors, courts, and corrections prevent actors within the legal system from getting a clear picture of how GBV cases are handled across the system and over time. This contributes to the systemic barriers of silos and lack of accountability, increases system costs, and impedes effective intersectional analysis of programs and services.” [4]
What we heard
Recognizing progress in data collection, while addressing persistent gaps
“Data collection needs to be improved, and we need to collect data consistently. It is hard to identify gaps without reliable data.” [5]
Improvement of data collection over the years
In a recent issue of the Victims of Crime Research Digest, Kathy AuCoin, retired Manager of the Analysis Program at the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, reflects on advances in data over the past 25 years.[6]
Police-reported crime data has improved.
The Uniform Crime Reporting Survey[7] (UCR) accounts for 99% of the population and shows trends in various provinces, territories, and rural communities. The survey updates when Criminal Code amendments occur to stay relevant.
- Survey changes to include victims. In 2018, the UCR was modified to add victims of violent crimes to be better able to indicate why some incidents are unsolved (i.e., no accused identified or not enough evidence). This ensures victim data are counted in challenging police cases or when there is difficulty obtaining evidence, such as human trafficking.
- Linking UCR Survey records. Victim data has improved our ability to identify patterns of reoccurring victimization and see how previous victimization may intersect with later victimization or offences. Police have also been able to link their data to court records, which can help identify trends, gaps, and improvements.
Victimization surveys have advanced.
- The General Social Survey[8] (GSS) on Canadians' Safety (Victimization) is a prominent survey that captures self-reported experiences of victimization in the 12 months preceding the survey. It occurs approximately every 5 years and asks questions related to child maltreatment, physical and sexual violence, and key incident details such as reporting to police or use of victims' services.
- The Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces[9] (SSPPS) collects self-reported data on gender-based violence, including forms which do not meet the criminal threshold.
- Data is also becoming more accessible. These data surveys are available to the public and Statistics Canada has Research Data Centres that anyone can use.
During our investigation, one survivor shared,
- “The only way we can change what is being done behind closed doors is exposing it for others to see just how much survivors are put through when they report and go through the justice system.” [10]
Some significant gaps remain. There is no comprehensive national data for all victim services across Canada, specifically on how victims are accessing services and how their needs are being responded to by the justice system. Statistics Canada tested a pilot for Canadian Victim Services Indicators in 2015-16. While provincial and territorial results were available, the results could not be compared between the jurisdictions due to varying definitions, available information, and services provided.
Data can fuel solutions
One reviewer of this report noted that we falsely assume that improved data will lead to better public policy, more satisfied complainants, more efficient and fair criminal law, etc.
- Let us be very clear, we do believe that.
- Throughout this investigation, we met with hundreds of survivors, public policy leaders, lawmakers, Crowns, advocates, academics, and community leaders who were keen to make the system work better for survivors. The search for data-driven, evidence-based solutions was part of every conversation.
When the right statistics are not collected, are collected but not published, or are published but not disaggregated, enormous amounts of energy, time, resources, and dollars end up redirected into getting information.
- Data may no longer be considered current, meaning individuals and institutions start back at the beginning to do the same data collection work over and over.
- The often-costly processes of data access may include lengthy and often repeated access to information and privacy requests, specialized research applications, or years of front-line advocacy to persuade decision-makers to share relevant statistics.
“ I spent almost 20 years trying to get statistics on outcomes of sexual assault reports from my local police service, without success. A professor at the law school volunteered to have his students file a Freedom of Information request and we eventually got five years of data. After that it was back to square one.“ [11]
Not Just Any Numbers, the RIGHT NUMBERS
Data doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Adding a metric or overemphasizing one number in isolation can lead to large fiscal and resource expenditures that may not ultimately change, or even impact, an underlying root cause.
- For example, police use clearance categories to explain what happened to a report of sexual assault. The codes provide 21 different explanations for an officer’s final determination in case, allowing analysts to better understand what happened to the case and why.
- The published information in the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (Incident-Based Crime Statistics by Detailed Violation) reports on 4 codes: whether a sexual assault report was cleared as Unfounded, Founded Not Cleared, Cleared by Charge (or Charges Recommended), or Cleared Otherwise. The reasons why the case didn’t proceed are not proactively published on an annual basis, but they were recently published[12] and can be available, upon request.
- The current reported data leaves out the crucial information needed to understand case attrition and allow program and policy analysts to propose evidence-based solutions – we learn WHAT happened, but the data stops short of telling us WHY it happened.
Unfounded
Founded not cleared
X - Still Under Investigation
Y - Insufficient Evidence to Proceed
Z – Victim/Complainant Declines to Proceed (no CSC identified)
Cleared by charge or charges recommended
C - Cleared by Charge
W - Charges recommended but all declined by Crown
Cleared otherwise
D – Suicide of CSC
E – Death of CSC (not suicide)
F – Death of complainant/witness
G – Reason beyond control of the department (policy)
H – Diplomatic Immunity
I – CSC under 12 years of age
J – Committal of the CSC to a mental health facility
K – CSC outside Canada, cannot be returned
L – Victim/Complainant requests that no further action is taken (CSC identified)
M – CSC involved in other incidents
N – CSC already sentenced
O – Departmental Discretion
R – Diversionary Program
S – Incident cleared by a lesser statute
T – Incident cleared by another municipal/provincial/federal agency
Without understanding the reasons for case attrition, stakeholders, policymakers remain unable to meaningfully address issues.
- This lack of detail leads to the issue not being able to be measured. It becomes impossible to track progress or measure substantive change (positive, neutral, or negative). In turn, this lack of data prevents accountability.
- Today’s tools and technologies make data transparency easier. Investments today will result in reduced costs, more effective interventions, and, most importantly, more transparent and informed justice processes for Canadian survivors tomorrow.
Disaggregated data is an essential tool to understand barriers
“[We] need disaggregated data to showcase the at-risk populations and the need to support agencies that target these populations [Black and racialized communities/survivors].” [13]
In our investigation, we heard from stakeholders that methods of data gathering and reporting, combined with a lack of disaggregated data, can lead to further invisibility and negative consequences for disproportionately impacted and marginalized groups.[14]
Definition: Disaggregated data, sometimes called demographic categories, is data focused on subcategories of statistics, like race, gender, religion, or educational status. This type of data may reveal inequalities and relationships between groups. British Columbia’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner. (2020). Disaggregated demographic data collection in British Columbia: The grandmother perspective
A 2020 report from the British Columbia’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner laid out benefits and risks to disaggregated data.[15]
| Benefits | Risks |
|---|---|
|
|
We recognize the call for data sovereignty
The Assembly of First Nations released a National First Nations Justice Strategy in June 2025. In this report, Indigenous data sovereignty is
“The act of Indigenous people, communities, and Nations to have authority over and participate in Data that is created with, by, for, or about them.“[16]
- This strategy also urges CJS data collection to be more precise and to increase the quality of data through an intersectional lens. The Assembly of First Nations also requested standalone federal legislation aimed at accountability, oversight, and data collections.[17]
Other Data Sovereignty Initiatives
- First Nations Information Governance Centre has a First Nations Data Governance Strategy aimed at data sovereignty and have created The Fundamentals of Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession (OCAP®)[18], introducing principles of OCAP® around First Nations ownership and access to First Nations data.[19] They also have a First Nations Data Centre.
- National Inuit Strategy on Research was created to increase research initiatives and information for Inuit prosperity.[20]
- Métis Centre at the National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO) developed Principles of Ethical Métis Research.[21]
The 2019 National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Calls for Justice also addressed intersectional data collection. Call for Justice 5.24:
“ We call upon the federal government to amend data collection and intake-screening processes to gather distinctions-based and intersectional data about Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people.“ [22]
Our Expert Advisory Circle (EAC) also raised the need for better data collection and support for Indigenous communities[23]
Government actions to advance data
The National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence[24]
- Data, research, and knowledge mobilization are essential to efforts to address GBV. This national action plan highlighted the lack of intersectional data, noting the need for disaggregated data.
Statistics Canada Disaggregated Data Action Plan (DDAP)[25]
- Launched in 2021, Statistics Canada released this action plan to enhance collection of disaggregated data on four groups: Indigenous peoples, women, racialized populations, and persons with disabilities.
- This improvement of disaggregated data has helped others make evidence-based decisions and strengthen the fight against systemic racism and gender gaps.
- Statistics Canada has improved this collection of data by adding more questions to surveys and increasing sample sizes. For example, the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey has been changed to now ask for Indigenous and racialized data as part of a joint initiative with Statistics Canada and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP).[26]
- Data will be available once police services and their records management adopt the updated UCR survey (available as of February 2024).
- The Crime and Justice Statistics Portal is now public as well, but no disaggregated UCR data is currently available in the portal.
Canada’s Black Justice Strategy: Implementation Plan (February 2025)[27]
- The Strategy highlights the need for disaggregated data and how the Government of Canada is committed to collecting it. The 2024 Fall Economic Statement invested $1 million in Statistics Canada over two years (2025–26, 2026–27) with the aim of addressing data gaps on the experiences of Black Canadians.
- The roadmap report released in 2024 included a recommendation to create a unit within Statistics Canada’s Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics that would coordinate and implement a Race and Identity-Based Data program.
The Department of Justice’s Indigenous Justice Strategy (March 2025)[28]
- This Strategy has Priority Actions aimed at various levels and sectors to consult and cooperate with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis to advance data collection, reporting, sovereignty through collaboration and disaggregated data, and accountability.
Improving data collection can save money
Jurisdictional issues. Data sharing between jurisdictions can be challenging as many incidents happen in multiple jurisdictions, but jurisdictions may not share information.[29]
Data and information gaps generate “invisible“ and exponential costs across sectors. The upfront investment required to develop improved data collection, tracking, and availability would be offset by the elimination of these “invisible“ costs.
We heard that:
- Police databanks are needed across jurisdictions. Human traffickers will take victims to many provinces but there is no database to say the victim was seen "here" by police. As a result, a significant amount of evidence is missed. A databank of this kind could corroborate where the person has been.[30]
- The scale of government investment needed to revamp and integrate a complex web of CJS data/information systems nationwide has likely contributed to slow progress in implementing data recommendations.
Interjurisdictional data would better inform criminal law reforms and funding programs. Dr. Stanton’s 2024 issue paper for the BC investigation noted,
“Data collection and analysis continue to be sources of frustration for many legal system actors and other stakeholders… It appears that publicly shared data collection is very limited, and therefore data analysis is even more limited.
In the absence of government tracking or publicly available data, community-based anti-violence organizations rely upon media reports to tally the number of femicides in the province. Some data is produced only in response to Freedom of Information requests by journalists rather than as a matter of course.“ [31]
In her final report, Dr. Stanton emphasizes the costs of GBV on policing, courts, health care, child welfare, and social services.[32]
- The hidden costs of data gaps are being paid already, they are just diffused across groups and sectors in ways that make them either invisible or near impossible to quantify.
A Committee of Experts in Quebec, including the Chief Justice of Quebec, 3 provincial MLAs, the heads of leading Quebec community groups in the GBV sector, and representatives from police, CAVAC, CALAC, Crowns and academics, released a comprehensive report on support for victims of sexual assault and IPV. They recommended more detailed statistics on sexual and domestic violence, applying disaggregated and differentiated analysis, particularly:
- the categorization of reasons for closing cases by the Director of Public Prosecutions
- number of guilty pleas
- number of abandoned proceedings
- number of substitutions of a charge by a commitment to keep the peace
- frequency of use of a peace bond
- statistics on the use of testimonial aids
- statistics on the imposition of restitution orders when it is requested[33]
“The work and consultations highlighted the paucity of statistics compiled on sexual assault and domestic violence. However, all agreed on the importance of collecting data to quantify the volume, determine the resources (financial or human) required and analyze the results of measures and the rate of public satisfaction. Given the sharing of jurisdiction and resources between the provincial and federal levels of government in criminal matters, such statistical data should be communicated from one government to the other." [Translation]
Rapport Rebâtir la confiance, Gouvernement du Québec, 2024 at p 197.
Why it matters
Good data saves time and money. The costs of finding and understanding data are both high and repetitive
- Different sectors (journalists, academics, policy-makers) are all having multiple conversations with different people on similar topics. This is not efficient.
- During our investigation one survivor shared, “Data entry needs to be more streamlined. The public should be able to check data. Databases and technology can quickly detect patterns.“ [34]
Here’s a common question to which there is no simple answer: what is the overall annual attrition rate in reports of sexual violations for
- All of Canada, all police sources
- Each province/territory
- By sex/age of victim
- By socioeconomic group, etc.
Case study: Unfounded sexual assaults
In 2017, the Globe and Mail published the results of a two-year investigation into sexual assaults being closed as “unfounded“ (meaning the police concluded that no crime occurred or was attempted).[35] The “Unfounded“ series revealed that police were dismissing a disproportionately high number of sexual assault claims compared to other serious crimes.
The series spurred an uncounted number of retroactive reviews of sexual assault investigations by municipal, provincial, federal, and military police across the country. Canadian police services largely reported that high unfounded rates were largely attributable to a clerical problem forcing police to use the unfounded category due to a lack of more accurate options.
This led to a 2018 revision of the clearance code options available to police services when reporting outcomes of investigations to the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJS), who compile and release annual reports to the broader public. As new clearance codes were implemented and guidance for case classification revised, the number of sexual assault reports cleared as “unfounded“ dropped across the country.
What the public didn’t know
The series wasn’t the first time the issues relating to unfounded rates were revealed.
The problem had been exponentially compounded by a 2003 Statistics Canada decision to stop collecting data on unfounded sexual assaults altogether, despite the (prescient) warnings of sexual assault advocates and researchers. At the time, not all police services were reporting information on unfounded incidents and, of those that were, not all unfounded records were being submitted to CCJS through the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey. It was suggested that variations in rates of unfounded incidents may have been attributable to inconsistent classification of calls for service that were deemed non-criminal.
Without national and regional statistics on unfounded levels for sexual assault cases, research and evaluation with respect to the high levels of unfounded sexual assaults became difficult, if not impossible. Without these statistics, there was no tracking of trends in founded and unfounded rates and no way of assessing the impact of any corrective measures that may be taken to ensure accuracy in decision-making.[36]
Data on unfounded sexual assault complaints would not be published again for another fourteen years, when the reaction to the Globe and Mail series prompted Statistics Canada, Police Information and Statistics (POLIS) Committee, CACP, and the broader policing community to announce they were resuming collection in 2018.
The Globe and Mail's “Unfounded“ series changed public perception of sexual assault investigations and led to widespread calls for reform and increased scrutiny of police handling of sexual assault cases.
Strengthening data can strengthen accountability
Accountability in sexual violence usually means how perpetrators are, or should be, held responsible for the harm they’ve caused.
- Increasingly, survivors, consultations, and academic reports are calling for accountability from the CJS itself.
If we understand accountability to mean that “someone is responsible for things that happen and can give a satisfactory reason for them” [37] the challenge for survivors comes into sharper focus.
- The sheer size of the CJS and number of decision-making actors within it presents a formidable wall of bureaucracy that can seem impenetrable for the average citizen.
Consider these elements for an accountable system:
- Access to information used in making decisions.
- Transparency about the decisions made or discretion used.
- Documentation of reasons for a decision.
- Ability to appeal to a neutral decision-maker.
- Independent oversight and quality assurance.
In BC, the (2025) Independent Systemic Review: The British Columbia Legal System's Treatment of Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence[38] recommends developing a broad and collaborative gender-based violence data strategy across government agencies and legal system institutions.
- The National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence specifically notes that enhanced data collection has a role in addressing gender-based violence.
Evaluations can drive improvements
Programs, services and activities to respond to sexual violence in the criminal justice system are often interconnected. Cross-cutting case studies, surveys, research can help to bridge the gap between programs, services and activities. Monitoring and evaluation provide evidence-based insights into the effectiveness, efficiency, and relevance of activities and services.
“ Evaluations typically use social science methods such as document reviews, interviews, surveys, case studies, focus groups, statistics and randomized control trials. They can look at a wide variety of sources to gather information, ranging from program beneficiaries to social media to predictive analytics based on big data. They can be conducted before a program is implemented, to inform its design; during a program, to help it adjust course; or after a program is complete or has been running for some time, to assess its impact.“ [39]
Establishment of a Gender-Based Violence Commissioner
There have been discussions about creating a GBV Commissioner in Canada to be able to improve collaboration and transparency.
- The 2023 Mass Casualty Commission’s (MCC) final report calls for a GBV Commissioner.[40]
- LEAF’s (2024) report,[41] What It Takes: Establishing a Gender-Based Violence Accountability Mechanism in Canada states that a GBV Commissioner would help to facilitate data collection and analysis in an area which engages numerous sectors and jurisdictions.
- Our Office supports the creation of a GBV Commissioner position in collaboration with improved resources and legislation for the OFOVC.[42]
Figure. LEAF’s infographic on what an independent GBV Commissioner could achieve [43]
Some gaps are known
Our investigation identified a clear need for these data points (this is not an exhaustive list):
- the annual attrition rate in reports of sexual violations for
- all of Canada, all police sources
- each province/territory
- by sex/age of victim
- by socioeconomic group, rural/urban, etc.
- the categorization of reasons for closing cases by the Crown
- number of guilty pleas for sexual violence and changes over time in these numbers
- numbers of withdrawal of charges for a commitment to keep the peace
- frequency of use of peace bonds
- what are the changes over time in the numbers of contested applications for testimonial aids
- statistics on the imposition of restitution orders when it is requested by a complainant
- how many applications for sexual history or private records occur, how long they take, what their results are
- the disposition of sexual history and record applications with and without funded ILR for complainants
- change over time for the numbers of contested applications for testimonial aids
- numbers of federal offenders serving a custodial sentence for sexual offences
- how often RJ is used, how many times it was denied due to a policy of not being able to refer sexual assault cases
- disaggregated data on who accesses support services, who does not and why
TAKEAWAY
Survivors deserve a justice system that sees what is hidden and acts on what is known
What we count reflects what we choose to value.
Endnotes
[1] SISSA Stakeholder Interview #45
[2] Government of Canada, Statistics Canada, Cotter, A. (2024). Criminal justice outcomes of sexual assault in Canada, 2015 to 2019.
[3] United Nations. (2013). Fundamental principles of official statistics.
[4] Stanton, K. (2025). The British Columbia legal system’s treatment of intimate partner violence and sexual violence. Government of British Columbia.
[5] SISSA Stakeholder Interview #169
[6] Aucoin, K. (2025). A retrospective overview of advances in data o victims of crime in Canada. Department of Justice Canada.
[7] Statistics Canada. (2024). Surveys and statistical programs - Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR).
[8] Statistics Canada. (2021). Surveys and statistical programs - General Social Survey - Canadians' Safety (GSS).
[9] Government of Canada, Statistics Canada, Perreault, S., & Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics. (2020, August 26). Gender-based violence: Unwanted sexual behaviours in Canada’s territories, 2018. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada, Cotter, A., & Savage, L. (2019). Gender-based violence and unwanted sexual behaviour in Canada, 2018: Initial findings from the Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces
[10] SISSA Survivor Survey, Response #775
[11] SISSA Stakeholder Interview #194
[12] Government of Canada, Statistics Canada, Conroy, S. (2024). Recent trends in police-reported clearance status of sexual assault and other violent crime in Canada, 2017 to 2022.
[13] SISSA Consultation Table #8: Black and Racialized
[14] SISSA Stakeholder Interview #45: Provincial Victim Services; SISSA Consultation Table #8: Black and Racialized Communities
[15] British Columbia’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner. (2020). Disaggregated demographic data collection in British Columbia: The grandmother perspective.
[16] Assembly of First Nations. (2025). National First Nations Justice Strategy Report
[17] Assembly of First Nations. (2025). National First Nations Justice Strategy Report
[18] First Nations Information Governance Centre. (2019). The First Nations Principles OCAP®.
[19] First Nations Information Governance Centre. (n.d.). Homepage.
[20] Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. (n.d.). National Inuit Strategy on Research.
[21] Métis Centre at the National Aboriginal Health Organization. (n.d.). Principles of Ethical Métis Research.
[22] National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019). Reclaiming power and place: The final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (Vol. 1a).
[23] SISSA Expert Advisory Circle (EAC) Meeting 2024-09-24
[24] Women and Gender Equality Canada. (2024). National action plan to end gender-based violence.
[25] Statistics Canada. (2024). Disaggregated Data Action Plan.
[26] Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics. (2025). Report and final recommendations: Police-reported Indigenous and racialized identity data through the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey.
[27] Department of Justice Canada. (2025). Toward transformative change: An implementation plan for Canada’s Black Justice Strategy.
[28] Assembly of First Nations. (2025). National First Nations Justice Strategy ReportIJS_EN.pdf
[29] SISSA Consultation Table #36: Restorative Justice
[30] SISSA Consultation Table #7: Human Trafficking Crown
[31] Stanton, K. (2024). The British Columbia legal system’s treatment of intimate partner violence and sexual violence. Government of British Columbia.
[32] Stanton, K. (2024). The British Columbia legal system’s treatment of intimate partner violence and sexual violence. Government of British Columbia.
[33] Corte, É., & Desrosiers, J. (2021). Rebâtir la confiance: rapport du comité d’experts sur l’accompagnement des victimes d’agressions sexuelles et de violence conjugale. In Secrétariat À La Condition Féminine. Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
[34] SISSA Survivor Interview #110
[35] Doolittle, R. (2024, March 26). Unfounded: Police dismiss 1 in 5 sexual assault claims as baseless, Globe investigation reveals. The Globe and Mail.
[36] Research and Statistics Division Department of Justice, Light, L., & Ruebsaat, G. (2006). Police Classification of Sexual Assault Cases as Unfounded: An Exploratory Study.
[37] Definition of “accountability” (2025) https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/accountability#google_vignette
[38] Stanton, K. (2025). The British Columbia legal system’s treatment of intimate partner violence and sexual violence. Government of British Columbia.
[39] Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (2020, July 23). Policy on Results: What is Evaluation? Canada.ca.
[40] Mass Casualty Commission. (2023). Violence. In Final Report of the Mass Casualty Commission (Vol. 3, p. Recommendation V.1).
[41] Dale, A. & Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF). (2024). Establishing a GBV Accountability Mechanism in Canada.
[42] Office of the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime. (2024). Remarks to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women (FEWO) on Gender-based Violence and Femicides against Women, Girls and Gender Diverse People.
[43] Dale, A. & Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF). (2024). Establishing a GBV Accountability Mechanism in Canada.