An Indigenous woman is suing an RCMP officer in British Columbia over a “malicious, degrading” and “victim blaming” interview she gave while reporting a sexual assault in West Kelowna in 2012.
That interview, described as an “interrogation” in the suit, sparked national outrage last month when video surfaced revealing the questioning officer asking: “Were you at all turned on during this at all, even a little bit?”
B.C.’s minister of justice and the attorney general of Canada are also named in the suit.
He adds that he doesn’t always agree with the RCMP but that they are professional in the way that they carry out their duties.
He says the behaviour of that officer on the on the video is a marked and total departure.
Canada’s Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has called the video “absolutely abhorrent,” while B.C.’s Minister of Children and Family Development Katrine Conroy called it “heart-wrenching” and “appalling.”
The B.C. RCMP has promised a “fulsome review” of the incident.
The officer’s current job status with the Mounties has not been made public.
It’s not the first time RCMP have been accused of mistreating an Indigenous sexual assault victim.
Yellowknife RCMP came under fire when two officers were not disciplined after they locked up a female Indigenous victim of sexual assault in 2017.