Rehtaeh Parsons had visited the IWK when she was having suicidal thoughts.
We’re not sure what happened next.
During one breakdown, says her father Glen Canning, staff stripped the alleged rape victim naked and kept her in a solitary room overnight. But “we’ve reviewed the situation thoroughly and the accusation made was just not true,” IWK CEO Anne McGuire tells The Coast.
Canning couldn’t be reached to comment on his earlier statement. But since his daughter’s death, he has thrown himself behind police protests and mental-health initiatives. “It’s almost at the point now where we don’t know what to do anymore,” Canning said earlier, at a June 1 rally decrying police inaction in the wake of his daughter’s death.”
Since Parsons’ suicide in April, the Nova Scotia government has pushed for new laws that ban distributing sexual images without consent. The Nova Scotia justice department has also announced a new anti-cyberbullying investigative unit. The unit will be able to seize online devices associated with actions “that are hurtful but that aren’t necessarily meeting the Criminal Code requirements,” deputy Halifax police chief Bill Moore told Global News.
But laws against child pornography and criminal harassment are already on the books. Canning says institutions were in place to support his daughter—and they failed her.
Canning alleges new evidence has been made available but has not been seized. He also recalls a Facebook group, Speak The Truth, in support of the boys allegedly involved. “[Police] had an opportunity here to see they were saying, yeah…she was drunk and yes, they had sex with her,” he says. The creator removed the group after discussions with police.
Police representatives couldn’t comment, because the investigation is ongoing.
The Nova Scotia government has promised an independent police review with regards to Rehtaeh’s case. They’ll wait until the reopened investigation is complete. A panel has also been struck to review the Halifax Regional School Board’s role in events before her death.
This article appears in Jun 13-19, 2013.
Demand the Criminal Code be enforced now! Enough Cover up and stupidity!
“IWK denies strip search took place”.
JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! JUSTICE FOR REHTAEH! BULLIED! RAPED! BULLIED! DIED= MANSLAUGHTER!!!!!
It is so sad that this young woman has lost her life. Unfortunately, it is common protocol in any hospital setting that when a person is suicidal that they remove their own clothing and wear hospital gowns. This is a safety measure to prevent them from using their own clothing (belt, shoe laces, bra, etc) to end their life and also a measure to deter them from leaving the hospital without anyone noticing. A person’s belongings are also usually searched to make sure they do not have any sharp objects, pills, etc that they might use to end their life. It appears, in this case, that her parents were not made aware of the hospital’s procedures and why this was being done. Although this is a common practice for hospital staff, they sometimes forget that patients and parents are not aware of this, a few extra moments to explain why it is being done can make a big difference. Also, perhaps this suicide safety protocol should be reviewed and may not be the most appropriate measure to take when a person has been previously sexually traumatized, it is possible to allow a person to keep wearing their own clothing after it has been checked to make sure there are no safety issues (belt, shoe laces, bra, etc have been removed).
wait though. While I totally agree that the mental health system is fucked and really needs a complete housecleaning and overhaul… and while i ALSO agree that this case was not at all managed properly, intelligently or even sensibly or humanely… within the confines of how things are, isn’t a full search and confinement standard procedure for those with a high self-harm probability?
I mean.. isn’t this sort of par for the course?
Landry is still justice minister, four rapists are still at large, and Darrell Dexter thinks that he is going to win the next election, it just gets better by the minute, no wonder the poor girl could not take it any longer.