RCMP say a sixth student was sexually assaulted on the UBC campus this past Sunday morning.
They held a news conference on Tuesday afternoon to inform the public and the students what was happening. On Unfiltered, Jill Krop asked police why they waited a few days before holding a press conference.
“We had some significant investigative steps to take before we were sure it was an incident we were comfortable in saying it was linked to the other five,” says Sgt. Peter Thiessen from the Lower Mainland District RCMP. “We certainly don’t want to unduly raise fears, so there was a number of steps we needed to take, but we came to that conclusion fairly quickly, that there is in fact what appears to be a direct link to the other incidents.”
Thiessen says the method in which the victims were attacked was similar, the descriptions are also similar, and the location and time of the attacks were similar.
It appears students on campus are feeling frustrated on what they see is a lack of information and action from the University RCMP and campus security. On Tuesday afternoon the UBC Public Affairs Twitter account tweeted and texted a link to an update on their site. As students rushed to read it, the website crashed.
Caity Goerke from Victims Services, who is also a student at UBC says that does not surprise her because students are hungry for information and are looking to the university to do more.
“I’m not surprised there was a huge rush to the website because I think there’s a lot of people who want answers,” she says on Unfiltered.
“It is frustrating for us as well,” says Thiessen, “and as concerning for us as it is for the public, but you have to realize that the University of British Columbia Vancouver campus is a significantly large area. We did put a large number of resources on to the campus area, but it’s like policing a large city. We unfortunately can’t be everywhere at every moment, and I think people hopefully can understand that, but we are putting as many resources as required into this investigation to hopefully identify a suspect and subsequently make an arrest.”
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Campus security and policing has been stepped up on the campus, but some are questioning if that is enough.
“UBC is a huge campus, and I’m not confident that an increase in security is really enough to respond to what’s going on,” says Goerke. She says she does not believe the university is doing enough to keep the women on campus safe. “It’s really only capturing a very small picture of what sexual violence is, and it’s a response to these isolated events, instead of a response or an acknowledgement of the larger context of sexual violence, the larger context of sexism.”
UBC president Stephen Toope posted a letter to students today on the university website, saying in part:
In the days to come, until the alleged perpetrator is apprehended, I ask you to be extra vigilant. Make sure you have the information you need to stay safe. The ultimate choice is yours, but the RCMP is advising you not to walk alone after dark. Please look out for each other.
Some would have liked a stronger response.
Thiessen says the University RCMP has a difficult task as well to protect students, but says they are doing a good job trying to catch the man.
The suspect is described as a male, Caucasian with olive skin or tanned, mid-to-late 20s, or early 30s, thin build, about 5’8″ – 6’2″ tall.
Thiessen says women on the UBC campus need to take some ‘reasonable steps’ to ensure their safety. “Try not to walk alone after dark, walk with at least another person if not in a group, try to stay in a well-lit area as much as possible, try to stay away from the darker bush areas, try not to walk around with the ear buds in their ears, those types of things,” he says.
“But something I want to make clear that these women that were victimized, they had every right to be where they were, when they were there, going to where they were going. They are not responsible for putting themselves or being attacked. They had every right to be there and should not be blaming themselves.”
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