CHED radio’s explosive online poll asks whether sex assault victims are to blame
BY KAREN KLEISS AND MARIAM IBRAHIM, EDMONTON JOURNAL APRIL 10, 2014
EDMONTON - An online poll asking whether victims are to blame for sexual assault triggered immediate outrage from Alberta politicians Thursday.
The poll, posted online by 630 CHED, asks: “Do you think victims of sexual assaults share any blame for what happens?”
Alberta Jobs Minister Thomas Lukaszuk responded immediately on the social media network Twitter, saying he will urge the government to pull advertising from the Corus radio station.
“If your poll is intentional and not a hacked account, I will encourage (the Alberta government) to pull all advertising off of your station,” Lukaszuk said on Twitter.
Justice Minister Jonathan Denis also responded immediately.
“I say victims are not to blame,” Denis wrote, also on Twitter.
The station later issued an apology after the controversy exploded, but the poll remained online.
“We’re sorry. This morning, we tweeted a poll that lacked context. That was wrong, and people are understandably upset,” the tweet reads.
The poll has been reworded slightly to include a reference to a panel discussion about rape culture held in Edmonton as part of the city’s Sexual Exploitation Week of Awareness.
NDP MLA Rachel Notley said there’s nothing to debate when a woman is sexually assaulted.
“To me that is utterly ridiculous,” she said, adding she believes the station should use the opportunity to educate people about sexual assault.
“I think what I’d like to see is more education about why this is wrong and those agencies that decided to suggest there was a debate maybe ought to rethink what they’re saying and should instead replace that notion with education about why it is not a debate and why in fact it’s not possible for a woman to ask to be assaulted,” Notley said.
Wildrose MLA Kerry Towle tweeted that the station should remove the “offensive” poll and “support all victims of violence.”
The poll gives two options for response: yes and no.
Under “no” the site says “women should be able to dress, drink and walk as they choose without fear of being blamed.”
Under “yes,” the poll says “if women drink too much, dress too little or walk in harms way, they put themselves at risk.”
By Thursday afternoon, 65 per cent of respondents had voted no, while 35 per cent of respondents had voted yes. The total number of respondents is not available on the website.
CHED brand manager Syd Smith said the station was “ham-handed” in how it phrased the question.
“That question, void of context, would make me angry,” he said on air Thursday.
More to come ...
kkleiss@edmontonjournal.com
twitter.com/ablegreporter
Poll: It's very controversial but do you think victims of sexual assaults share any blame for what happens? Vote: http://t.co/gLSFz6XWqR
— 630CHED (@630CHED) April 10, 2014
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