"The System Failed Her"

TW: Vivid discussion of recent sexual violence case 

On October 8th, there was a press release in Nova Scotia, commenting on how the system failed a 17 year old girl, who committed suicide in April 2013. 17 months earlier, Rehtaeh Parsons was gang-raped by fellow students, who also posted and passed around photos of the incident on social media and throughout their school. 

When her case came to court, the justice system barred the use of her name in media and by journalists, and ended up sparking the world-wide trend #YouKnowHerName. 

It was announced that the police and Crown both made errors regarding Rehtaeh's case, and the report has given them 17 recommendations on how to proceed forward. 

2011. Four years after Rethaeh Parson's was violently raped at that party, and the system has just come to the conclusion that they failed the 17 year old girl, who did not survive her run in with sexual violence. 

1998. Jane Doe wins her case against the Toronto Police department, after finding that the system had failed women who were reporting their sexual assaults. As said in the DuBois article, this 'victory' "was expected to mark the beginning of significant reform in police forces across Canada" (DuBois, 191). Yet, 17 years later, yet again we hear the words "the system has failed her'. And we see the same response being given. Police will receive more training, the Crown will receive more training, as they now recognize that Rehtaeh's case was a 'tragedy'. 

How is it, that I can sit reading Teresa DuBois' article on the failure to act in accordance to believing and proceeding forward with sexual violence cases, and literally see that 17 years later, nothing has changed? How is it, that we live in a society in which the system is set up to first believe that someone is lying, and then prove that they aren't? The system is set up to believe the stereotypical rape, and almost nothing else, another place in which rape culture is allowed to thrive. DuBois states in her article that nothing had changed, and in fact, the amount of survivors reporting their incidents has gone down.  What will it take for the system to really change? Because Rehtaeh's case should have been handled better, Jane Doe's victory should have inspired that. But it didn't, because the recommends didn't create reform like expected, and now they are being recommended again. 

I think it could said that the system was the cause of Rehtaeh's death. The lack of change from Jane Doe's case allowed the corrupt system to continue and foster and as a result, we have returned back to 1987, back when Jane Doe and countless others also were struggling to have their voice heard.