FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 22, 2012
Outraged by crowns failure to prosecute Gang Rape in Pitt Meadows
Vancouver, B.C. – Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter is outraged with the Crown’s decision to stay charges of rape in the Pitt Meadows’ “Another Night in Bangkok” gang-rape case.
The Crown’s decision is a betrayal of the young woman who was the victim of the rape and sends a clear message to all women not to seek justice through the criminal justice system. This is another blatant example of the state’s refusal to hold men accountable for their violent crimes committed against women.
Vancouver Rape Relief & Women’s Shelter knows that 98% of sexual assault cases are dropped at the police level. Of the remaining 2% of cases that reach Crown Counsel, only those with a strong likelihood of conviction will move forward to trial. Only 0.8% of the cases put forward by Crown result in a conviction of sexual assault. Women still have to wait for their day in court.
We urge those in the community who witnessed the attack to come forward and tell us what they know, by refusing to come forward they are complicit in the failure to hold these men accountable for their attack on this young woman.
“Not enough evidence” means police and Crown failure. We refuse to accept “the unlikelihood of conviction” as a reason to keep this man from facing justice. We want Colton McMorris’ actions to be judged by the court.
Media Contact: Summer Rain Bentham
Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter
604-872-8212, summerrainb@rapereliefshelter.bc.ca
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