Two London-based organizations are calling on Hockey Canada, the NHL, and federal and provincial authorities to take urgent action following the recent sexual assault case involving the national hockey body.
Anova: A Future Without Violence and the London Abused Women Centre sent a letter on Thursday, Oct. 02, in which they outlined six specific calls to action. The executive directors, Jessie Rodger and Jennifer Dunn, said that the July court decision and surrounding coverage exposed shortcomings in the legal system and sport institutions in responding to sexual violence.
In the letter, Rodger and Dunn ask Hockey Canada to release the full investigation report from June 2018. It urges the federal Minister of Sport to make the release a condition of future funding. It also calls for expanded trauma-informed education for provincial and federally appointed judges, a comprehensive NHL policy that addresses sexual and intimate partner violence, and legislative reforms to limit retraumatizing cross-examination in gender-based violence cases.
The two London organizations emphasized that survivors and communities cannot wait for meaningful reforms and expect a prompt response.
