After a hard-fought legal battle with local law enforcement, Aden Withers has settled her civil suit against the Kelowna RCMP.
In 2012, at just 17 years old, Withers reported a sexual assault to the Kelowna RCMP. However, she was subject to brutal and victimizing questioning, in which she was asked if she was sa国际传媒渢urned onsa国际传媒� while she was raped.
She filed a civil lawsuit against the detachment and the interrogating officer Cpl. Kenneth Hall in June 2019.
READ MORE: Civil suit brought against Kelowna RCMP officer after sa国际传媒榓bhorrentsa国际传媒� interrogation
On January 27, 2019, the two parties reached a settlement which Withers said shesa国际传媒檚 satisfied with.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 feeling relieved and tired,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 over and done with, thank goodness.sa国际传媒�
Though the details of the settlement are confidential, Withers said a sa国际传媒渕ore fullsomesa国际传媒� review will be undertaken at the detachment.
sa国际传媒淚 feel like payouts are always an excuse towards Aboriginal people to make it seem like what they did was right,sa国际传媒� she said.
Withers said if she hadnsa国际传媒檛 brought her case to the publicsa国际传媒檚 attention along with the issue of rape culture in Kelowna, things likely would have turned out differently.
sa国际传媒淚 think the outcome wouldsa国际传媒檝e been a lot different,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淏ringing this to the media definitely impacted the outcome of the settlement.sa国际传媒�
While the experience was draining for Withers, she encourages other rape survivors to share their stories.
sa国际传媒淟ots of people have come to me,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淚t feels good because that means people are paying attention to the rape culture in Kelowna.sa国际传媒�
Over the last six months Withers has been an advocate for surviors, by sharing her story through various mediums and events.
The Kelowna RCMP confirmed all legal claims related to Witherssa国际传媒� experience have been settled.
sa国际传媒淲e regret this incident and remain committed to improving how our employees respond to victims and investigate allegations of sexual assault,sa国际传媒� said Staff-Sgt. Janelle Shoihet, senior media relations officer with the RCMPsa国际传媒檚 E Division.
sa国际传媒淭his incident highlighted the importance for the RCMP to continue to review and update our sexual assault investigative training, practices and policies.sa国际传媒�
As first reported in the sa国际传媒 on Oct. 25, 2019, Statistics Canada data shows the Kelowna RCMP classified almost 40 per cent of sexual assault reports as unfounded in 2018. That number is more than double the 15 per cent average across the province and dwarfs the under five per cent averages in Vancouver and Victoria.
The RCMP recently said completed an internal review of the extremely high number of sexual assaults that were deemed sa国际传媒渦nfoundedsa国际传媒� by police in 2018 and 2019, however, the results have not yet been made public.
READ MORE: Kelowna RCMP completes internal review of sexual assault cases deemed sa国际传媒榰nfoundedsa国际传媒�
michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
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