Anova has launched a new website that aims to track where instances of sexual violence are occurring in London, Ont., while holding those spaces accountable.
It’s called Map My Experience and is the product of a joint effort led by Anova that looks to address sexual violence in public spaces, a task that was taken up when London signed on to the United Nations Women Safe Cities initiative.
A local social services organization, Anova strives for a future without violence and provides safe places, shelter, support, counselling, and resources for abused women and their children.
Anova’s manager of prevention education and research, AnnaLise Trudell, says Map My Experience was also inspired by a series of sexual assault allegations that emerged during Western University’s 2021 Orientation Week (O-Week), which later led to a massive student walkout.
“It would’ve been helpful at that time to have a platform where survivors could go and say — hey, this happened, I want you to know this anonymously,” Trudell added.
“We actually know most survivors don’t go to the police, in fact, about 90 per cent of them don’t.”
Map My Experience works by having users place a virtual pin on a map of London to show where a reported incident of sexual violence occurred.
By highlighting trends geographically, the community action committee monitoring the data will be able to approach spaces that may have higher instances of sexual violence and provide ways to make them safer.
The committee includes members from Brescia University College, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the City of London, Fanshawe College, London Abused Women’s Centre, Muslim Resource Centre for Social Support and Integration and the Society of Graduate Students at Western University.
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Using the example of a bar, Trudell says the committee could help management teach staff to recognize indicators of non-consensual interactions and how to intervene in a way that prevents further escalation.
Along with bystander intervention training, committee members could also lend their expertise by providing analysis of what environmental factors may be influencing trends, such as low lighting or a lack of monitoring in certain areas of an establishment.
Outdoor spaces, such as a public park, may also be made safer by finding ways to increase foot traffic to that area.
“Each space would be quite unique, but we have the expertise on this committee to think about all these different actions and what could be proposed,” Trudell said.
All reporting on Map My Experience is kept anonymous, with the data restricted only to the eyes of committee members. An individual report takes about 10 minutes to fill out and users are allowed to skip certain questions should they wish to do so. Names are not asked for and the website says “all data is de-identified so it cannot be traced back to a specific report.”
Witnesses of sexual violence are also allowed to fill out a report and Trudell emphasizes that all forms of sexual violence are worth reporting and helpful for tracking trends.
“That can be someone leering at you … that can be feeling like someone’s following you, that can be comments that are made at you that are not what you want that feel really targeted to you, that can absolutely be unwanted touch, and of course that can be what we more typically know as a sexual assault,” Trudell said.
“There really isn’t a moment where you should ponder, ‘does this count enough?'”
Map My Experience had a soft launch in October and primarily targeted post-secondary students to garner feedback and work out any kinks with the platform.
About 40 separate pins have been placed on the map so far and Trudell says a full launch of the website will be held in January which will see a comprehensive marketing campaign to spread the word even further.
The website will also see an annual report that gathers and explores data gathered from reports, including the demographics of those reporting sexual violence.
As for the currently available data, the London Police Service’s crime statistics webpage reported 572 sexual assaults in 2021, up from 495 in 2020 and 416 the year prior.
Anova looks to several indicators when tracking sexual violence, including calls to its 24/7 crisis and support line, the number of clients accessing sexual assault counselling and the number of students attending sexual violence counsellors on post-secondary campuses.
Trudell says there’s been a “stark increase” across all indicators in the last year.
“That’s a tricky one to interpret … Is that because there’s more sexual violence happening or is that because we’ve done a really good job of being able to talk about it and so people are recognizing that this has happened to them and reaching out for support,” Trudell added.
“I’m inclined to say it’s a bit more the latter than the former.”
If you or a loved one is experiencing gender-based violence, Anova’s 24/7 crisis and support line can be reached at 519-642-3000 or 1-800-265-1576. More options for help are available on Map My Experience’s website.
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