‘The system itself is flawed’: London community shows up to support sexual assault survivor 

Over 40 people joined together on Tuesday, May 13 outside of the Superior Court in London, Ont., to support survivor E.M. on her seventh day of cross-examination by defense attorneys in the sexual assault trial of five men.

E.M. was 20 years old at the time of the reported sexual assaults. The trial began at the end of April this year — nearly seven years later.

The five men, Michael MacLeod, Cal Foote, Dillon Dubé, Carter Hart, and Alex Formenton, were hockey players on the Canadian World Juniors hockey team. They were in London in 2018 to celebrate the team’s win. The public history of Hockey Canada covering up sexual assaults by players has contributed to discourse about the trial.

“I feel like there’s a whole hockey culture . . . especially these young men have been put on a pedestal and have been worshipped, for what their lawyers say, elite hockey ability,” said Lisa Widdifield, a community member who has been at the Courthouse nearly every morning E.M. has been cross-examined. “I think we need more trauma awareness and more victim awareness . . . This young woman, her life is forever changed, and this trauma, she carries it forever.”

“It has come to normalizing a situation that was clearly very traumatizing and horrific situation where a person could not give consent. [Consent] isn’t even on the table as a possibility,” added Susan MacPhail, a community member.

The initial criminal investigation by London Police Services was only reopened after the news of the Hockey Canada settlement was made public. A London Police officer from the Police Liaison Team at Tuesday’s demonstration approached two people holding signs and claimed that the legal defense was going to use documentation of the rally to help their case.

“We’re protesting multiple things today. What does justice look like today? We’re gathered here today to stand with E.M. and all survivors as well and sending that message is very important. Also, the community that we’re fostering here,” said Nourhan, a community member who had attended multiple demonstrations outside the courthouse.

David Heap,* a community member, made a call for men to join the demonstrations. “It’s important for men to show up at these sort of events to show that we all support survivors. We know that ending rape culture begins with all of us in particular.”

Chants about ending rape culture, believing survivors, and getting justice were among the calls from protestors throughout the morning.

“As much as we’re here to support E.M., we’re aware that the system itself is flawed. We’re supporting E.M. in getting justice in the way that’s available to us right now. We also know that getting these men convicted and charged is a step, but also [does not mean] an end to rape culture because it’s so deeply entrenched in every facet of our society, how our systems work, our jobs, and our culture, everything,” said Teigan, a community member who attended the protest.  

For some, community events like these allow imagining more just futures. In showing up for the support of E.M. as a survivor, discussions of prison abolitionism, police inefficacy, and institutional misogyny peppered through the crowd between chants.

“I think that people showing up here together and getting to see people who are like-minded . . . [helps with] envisioning justice and what the world can look like beyond this and beyond the Canadian court system,” added Teigan.  

*David Heap is a board member for Antler River Media Co-op