Rape victim: the Montreal General Hospital refuses her … because she is French-speaking

A rape victim in Montreal had to be lugged to three different hospitals to carry out a forensic kit, with the first facility refusing to proceed because she is French-speaking, a judge has revealed.

“The first [l’Hôpital général de Montréal] refuses to take the exam since her mother tongue is French. [Les policiers] take her to a second hospital which also refuses her since no forensic kit is available there. It is finally in a third hospital that the examination will be done, ”explained judge Alexandre Dalmau, this morning, at the Montreal courthouse.

The magistrate related a sexual assault that occurred in the summer of 2020, when the accused Martin Jolicoeur, a 45-year-old resident of Lachine, attacked an acquaintance while the latter was sleeping. And this, even if she had expressly stated that she did not want reconciliations.

Feeling “betrayed and dirty, not listened to and respected”, the woman had left the premises. She started looking for a police station, but without success, the judge said. The woman, whose identity is protected by the court, then called 911.

Repeated refusals

“Patrollers picked her up on the street, explained the judge. She tells them what happened. She agrees to accompany them to the hospital for a forensic examination.

This is where things went wrong for the woman, who is French-speaking.

They first took her to the Montreal General Hospital, in the city center of the metropolis, but the police were redirected to the CHUM “since Madame speaks in French”, according to documents consulted by Le Journal.

Emergency, the police then went to the designated place, except that they were then sent to Notre-Dame Hospital. It was only then, almost two hours later, that the woman was able to be seen by a social worker.

Since then, the woman says she has suffered many wrongs.

The names of the hospitals in question were not specified in court.

The victim suffered “insomnia and loss of appetite,” the judge said.

“The event led to a drop in self-esteem. She experiences feelings of betrayal, misunderstanding, anger and shame, as well as grief.”

No leniency

The rapist had been arrested and following his trial, he had been convicted of sexual assault. And even if he hoped to get away with a suspended sentence, the judge decided instead to send him to prison for 18 months, despite his rehabilitation.

“The offender transgressed the victim’s limits, when she was vulnerable,” said the judge, among other things.

Once released from prison, Jolicoeur will have to respect a probation of three years. He will also be on the sex offender registry for two decades.

Jolicoeur was defended by Me Alan Guttman, while Me Geneviève Rondeau-Marchand acted for the Crown.

More details to come…