Survey of Sexual Assaults Survivors

2. SURVEY METHODOLOGY

The questionnaire and procedures for initiating and implementing the project were developed by Justice Canada researchers in consultation with staff at the participating sexual assault centres.

The questionnaire (comprised of 35 questions) was administered over the telephone by four researchers hired by the Department of Justice Canada.  Justice Canada selected the interviewers based on their experience in the area of violence against women as well as for their proven skills in conducting sensitive interviews.  A total of 102 telephone interviews were conducted.

Staff at the centres were responsible for briefing past and current clients on the purpose of the survey[2], recruiting women to participate, setting up interview times and, most importantly, providing survey respondents with any emotional support they might require before and/or after the interview.

Staff at the centres sought the participation of a group of women that had a diverse range of experiences.  Accordingly, staff approached sexual assault survivors who had reported their abuse to the police, gone to court and/or had their personal records accessed, as well as survivors who had not. They also approached women from various social, cultural and economic backgrounds.

As the study was primarily qualitative in nature, the criteria for selecting respondents were intended to ensure that a diverse sample of women with various levels of experience with the criminal justice system was surveyed rather than ensuring representativeness in a statistical sense. This should be kept in mind when reviewing the tables and figures, which are included for descriptive purposes.

The interviews took place between July 20 and August 6, 1998.  To protect their anonymity, the women participating in the survey placed the call to the interviewers themselves, at a prearranged time.  Most of the women called collect from a private office in one of the centres; the others called from their homes. In compensation for their participation, all of the women received an honorarium. Their transportation and childcare costs associated with participating in the study were also reimbursed.

The women were asked about their experiences of abuse, the factors that influenced their decision to report to the police (or not), as well as their experiences and views concerning record disclosure and the criminal justice system in general.  Most of the questions were open-ended in order to allow the women to talk about the aspects of their experiences that were most important to them and to express their views as freely as possible.[3]

The length of the interviews varied between 10 and 90 minutes.  Slightly more than half of the interviews were completed in less than 30 minutes and close to a third in 30 to 60 minutes. Only 15% of the interviews were longer than an hour.

Overall, staff at the sexual assault centres received positive feedback on the survey experience from participating women.  Specifically, women appreciated the opportunity to voice their experiences, particularly without having to fear that their words could be used against them.

It is important to note that the women who participated in the survey did so despite what they described as generally negative experiences with the criminal justice system.  For many of these women, participation was a leap of faith based on the hope that the survey would help “to change things”.