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Five former Canada world junior hockey players have been acquitted of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room in 2018 after Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia and that the victim's evidence was neither credible nor reliable.

The shocking outcome highlights the inadequacies and harms of the legal system and formal institutions in responding to sexual assault that advocates, researchers and victim/survivors have long pointed to.

If we truly want to address sexual violence, then challenging rape myths—in the courts, in the media and elsewhere—is an essential part of this work.

—a type of gender-based violence—is a persistent problem and across , with high rates of sexual assault and other forms of sexual violence. Statistics Canada has found that have been sexually assaulted since the age of 15. Reporting remains low, however, and victims/survivors face a multitude of barriers to care and justice.

to include factors like service gaps, not knowing where to go for help, inaccessibility and shame and stigma. Attitudes surrounding sexual violence can also impact survivors' decisions to disclose. They can also influence the responses survivors receive when they reach out for support.

Supportive vs. unsupportive reactions

The majority of victims/survivors never report or seek help through formal channels. Instead, they're more likely to disclose to systems, like friends and family.

When a disclosure of violence is met with a supportive reaction, victim/survivors can experience improved well-being. Positive reactions can also lead to additional help-seeking by affirming the victims/survivors' need for care, and offering information about services and resources.

In contrast, can hinder a victim/survivor's recovery. Such responses might involve blaming the victim, taking control of decision-making or prioritizing the well-being of the person or entity receiving the information over the victim/survivor's.

can silence the victim/survivor, encourage self-blame and deter them from seeking help. And when victims/survivors of violence, they are less likely to talk about it, alert authorities or seek help.

Additionally, while most victims/survivors seek help , most people are unprepared to hear about it. High levels of misinformation about sexual violence—or rape myths—also increase the likelihood that victims/survivors will receive unsupportive responses.

The persistence of rape myths

are pervasive false beliefs about sexual assault. They minimize the seriousness of sexual violence and shift blame from individual perpetrators and root causes onto victims or survivors.

Common rape myths include ideas that rape is rare and committed by strangers, that victims/survivors lie, that certain clothing or behavior invites sexual assault and that it is only rape if it involves physical force and active resistance.

Despite refuting rape myths, they persist. And they continue to influence perceptions of sexual violence, victims and perpetrators.

Rape myth acceptance is linked to higher rates of sexual assault and lower reporting . Because rape myths are often internalized, they also decrease the likelihood that victims/survivors will identify their experience as violence.

Rape myths and media

One powerful way that rape myths circulate is through media. This includes and social media. The pervasiveness of media in our lives makes it difficult to avoid exposure to false and harmful ideas about sexual violence.

High-profile cases in the media—like the , and trials—expose the public to details and discourses about sexual violence. The intensity of coverage can have harmful effects on victims/survivors.

For instance, in a study about experiences with seeking help and reporting sexual assault, interview participants were negatively affected by rape myths circulating during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings for a position on the United States Supreme Court.

Interviewees reported an increase in victim-blaming reactions from friends, family and professionals. They also described intense feelings like grief and anger, and reflected on barriers to reporting sexual violence.

to their crisis/support lines in response to the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial.

This is further evidence that coverage of sexual violence can be stressful and retraumatizing for victims/survivors. Service providers have noted that some of the calls include concerns about the hurdles and attitudes sexual assault victims face when they report.

Challenging rape myths, victim-blaming

There are signs of growing awareness of sexual violence, spurred in large part by like the . Nonetheless, rape myths continue to influence understandings of, and responses to, this type of violence.

Challenging rape myths is therefore a critical anti-violence strategy. This ,

It also requires , like the courts and media, to take an active role in stopping the spread of misinformation about sexual violence, and challenging it whenever possible.