Sexual assaults appear to be happening at greater rates in Jasper this year compared to last.

According to Jasper RCMP statistics, from the beginning of 2010, there have been four reported sexual assaults in Jasper. This is double the number over the same period in 2009, when there were only two reported incidents.

The 2010 number also appears disturbing because in 2009, there were only five reported sexual assaults all of last year, a number that 2010 has almost reached at just over the half way point for the year. 

On top of rumours circulating in the community, sexual assaults appear to be cropping more often at Jasper’s courthouse too. At the June 24 session of Jasper Provincial Court, there were four sexual assault related matters to be dealt with by the adult court - an unusually high number. At the preceding session of court two weeks earlier, there had been only two sexual assault matters (one of the accused appeared in court again two weeks later, while the other person was not required to do so). At the session before that, there was only one person who appeared to face sexual assault charges.

RCMP Cpl. Tony Dolhan said he could only speculate about what was behind the increase in sexual assaults and could not explain any overarching trend behind the increase. He said that any sort of trend would probably require a larger increase in the reported sexual assault numbers.

Still, he said Jasper RCMP takes any report of a sexual assault seriously. He said that an assault that was reported to the police on June 26, 2010 is still under investigation and in the three other incidents reported this year, arrests have been made and the matters are still working their way through the court.

Cpl. Dolhan said the summer months in Jasper, which is the busiest time for the RCMP, typically don’t affect the amount of sexual assaults reported.

“Even though the summer is busier, you have a majority of the increased population being elderly and/or mature families (mother, father and several children).  The season does not really seem to have an impact on the amount of reported sexual assaults occurring in Jasper,” he stated in an email.

According to Paul Schmidt, victim services co-ordinator for Jasper, the number of sexual assaults this year in town does appear to be going up. While he said he had not looked at the statistics to verify the matter, he said he has generally noticed that there do appear to be more sexual assaults happening. As well, he said domestic assaults in Jasper (these crimes are sometimes associated with sexual assaults) have gone up even more.

Schmidt said contrary to popular notions about men lurking in the woods, waiting to pounce, the majority of the sexual assaults in Jasper don’t happen between strangers.

“It’s not like we’re seeing many cases where people are walking home and then get ambushed by someone jumping out of the bushes,” said Schmidt. 

Out of all the sexual assaults that have been reported in 2010, only one of the four involves people who did not know each other previously, according to RCMP stats.

Instead, Schmidt said that most sexual assaults tend to happen between people who have already established some degree of a relationship, whether it be a loose friendship or some other arrangement.

“I certainly don’t want to say that people just shouldn’t trust the people they think they’re friends with, but... if you’re going to be out drinking, you do have to be careful,” said Schmidt.

He advised that girls drinking in Jasper should make sure that they’re out with close friends, so they have a backup who can keep watch. 

“Keep an eye on your drink at all times as well, make sure there’s nothing slipped in there,” Schmidt also advised.

Wanda Serland, a prevention and education co-ordinator with HIV West-Yellowhead, said that ‘date-rape’ drugs were a problem in Jasper. Several years ago, her organization organized a series of lectures about the drugs and how people can protect themselves against them after the drug appeared to be increasing in use in Jasper. Those lectures have continued into 2010.

“Never, ever leave your drink alone. That is absolutely the main thing that you can do,” said Serland.

Many of the bartenders and bouncers in town know that if they see a heavily intoxicated girl wandering away into the night with a man who doesn’t appear to be a close friend, they should intervene and ask some questions, Schmidt said.

The BarLink program in Jasper was also working well, Schmidt added. The program establishes relationships between bars and the RCMP in town; if a person gets kicked out of a bar, then that bar will have no problem calling up other bars and telling them to watch out for a drunken trouble maker coming their way.

Overall, Cpl. Dolhan said that the fact that most sexual assaults in Jasper happen between people who already know each other can create complications when it comes to getting convictions before the courts.

“In these cases, the defense has an easier time raising the issue then if it was consensual. If there is a lack of physical evidence to support one side or the other, it basically comes down to a ‘he says, she says,’ in which case the Judge has to then decide which one is more believable or truthful,” he stated in an email.