Sexual Assault/Rape Crisis Centre Resigns From Advisory Committee, Citing Abuse from PRP

BRAMPTON, ON, Aug. 23, 2021 /CNW/ - Peel Regional Police (PRP) has consistently demonstrated a lack of respect for the community it serves through their blatant abuses of power. Considering their actions and lack thereof, Hope 24/7 will not continue to engage with an institution that is discriminatory and acts without integrity. Consequently, Hope 24/7 has resigned from the Anti-Racism and Human Rights Advisory Committee as we refuse to cosign what we see as disingenuous, superficial attempts at reform by police.

After consulting the community, Hope 24/7 decided that unless PRP demonstrated genuine change they would no longer be welcomed on our Board of Directors, which PRP found offensive. Within months of this termination, PRP used various opportunities to attempt to stop Hope 24/7's advocacy efforts. One clear example is PRP's attempts at terminating the Sexual Assault Review Team, a community project delivered in partnership with Embrave and Elizabeth Fry Society.

Since February 2021, Chief Duraiappa and Deputy Chief Milinovich have complained to the organization's Board four times, demanding the termination of Hope 24/7's CEO. They eventually submitted a formal letter of complaint in June 2021, alleging she was "unprofessional", "disrespectful", responsible for hate speech and inciting social chaos through social media. Specifically, two of these complaints were made directly following a meeting with PRP on May 13th, 2021 regarding body-worn cameras and another with the Anti-Racism and Human Rights Advisory Committee held on June 1st, 2021. These complaints relate directly to changes that Hope 24/7 underwent when restructuring its relationships with systems of power in order to align with its anti-Black racism and anti-racism work, and its #F***thePatriarchy project. Hope 24/7 regards these complaints, and other behaviours of PRP as an attempt to repress our community advocacy efforts, stifling the freedom of expression of Hope 24/7 and its CEO -- a contravention of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

We encourage you to follow us for the latest developments, as we explore PRP's abusive actions and ask the community to share their perspectives on anti-racism within the force, the lack of police response to gender-based violence and how defunding can be the path forward.

SOURCE Hope24/7

Carry Campbell, [email protected]