Anti-violence advocate says RCMP minimizing fear of viral posts claiming B.C. women being abducted

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — While viral posts on social media suggesting women in B.C. are being abducted have been dispelled by the RCMP, one women’s advocate says a conversation about sexual violence is nevertheless “a good thing.”

Coquitlam RCMP issued a statement Saturday to assert the online rumours, which are leaving many people across the province unnerved, are untrue. They are urging everyone to stop sharing them.

RELATED: ‘No evidence’ to support viral posts claiming B.C. women are being abducted: RCMP

But Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director of Battered Women’s Support Services, says sexualized violence continues to be a serious problem. And she says the RCMP’s response minimizes the fear and the experiences of vulnerable people.

MacDougall explains social media is incredibly resourceful since young people continue to find ways to express themselves, share experiences and create content that can drive mainstream media to reflect on social issues like sexualized violence.

“We’ve been socialized in a bunch of different ways to limit behaviour because of the existence of rape and, in this case, stranger rape,” she said.

“Sexualized violence is on a continuum. And the fear around stranger rape [can lead to] the extent women and girls modify behaviour.

“In this instance [the RCMP] have missed a big part of what I think is an important piece of what they can be doing as an organization that exists to promote public safety. They should not ignore the reality that there is sufficient amounts of stranger sexualized violence.”

MacDougall explains that stranger rape is the least common type of sexualized violence, and that most violent sexual crimes happen between acquaintances, friends or family.

And the fear many vulnerable people face with stranger sexualized violence is “part of the culture and embedded in the culture … designed to control how women are navigating the public realm.”

“It’s also a way in which we’re blamed in the event that we do experience sexualized violence by a stranger,” she added. “Were you out at night? Were you drinking? Were you alone? The emphasis becomes on the behaviour of the victim.”

In general, MacDougall suggests there needs to be a cultural shift to reckon with the long-standing realities of how rape culture permeates society and “how patriarchy continues to be prevalent.”

“Sexualized violence is not something that our communities want to discuss,” she said. “There’s a lot of value in social media being a place to spark the conversation, whether that’s about safety, whether that’s about where resources are, whether that’s about survivors sharing their experiences. Whether that is about how to hold those perpetrators accountable. This is all really important. And so what we shouldn’t be doing is to be discouraging the sharing of information.”

According to Cpl. Michael McLaughlin with the Coquitlam RCMP, police have received a report of a “potential abduction attempt,” and they are investigating.

“Everything else has been rumour and innuendo on social media, as often happens with social media. We can’t corroborate that any crime happened or was about to happen,” he said.

– With files from Lisa Steacy