Advocate pushes back on suggestion by Virtanen’s agent that civil suit filed on sex assault claims is unusual

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The executive director of the Battered Women’s Support Services is chiming in after the agent for ousted Vancouver Canucks forward Jake Virtanen said it’s “unusual and troubling” the woman accusing his client of sexual assault has chosen to file a civil suit instead of waiting for criminal charges.

But Angela Marie MacDougall says it’s not that unusual.

For the first time since Virtanen was accused of sexual misconduct earlier this year, a statement from his agent, Kevin Epp, surfaced Saturday.

Epp said because the complainant started a civil lawsuit before speaking to police, it “is highly unusual.”

Read More: Virtanen’s agent defends ousted Vancouver Canuck, raises questions following sexual misconduct claims

But MacDougall explains to NEWS 1130 that justice can look different for different victims.

“It is about holding an accused accountable for the misuse of power,” said MacDougall. “It’s about standing in power … taking back power that was stolen through sexualized violence. It is about finding voice and using voice. It is about speaking their truth. Having people hear that truth. It is about standing in solidarity with other survivors.

“There’s a whole range of ways justice looks for survivors and given how elusive justice is, we want to support all of the ways in which survivors seek to receive a measure of justice, in their experiences of sexualized violence.”

MacDougall adds the criminal justice system has often worked against victims of sexual violence, including creating stereotypes against women and victim-blaming when women speak about their experience.

“The criminal legal proceedings has been a horrible place to achieve justice for survivors for hundreds of years … and it has a lot to do with well-worn beliefs about sexualized violence,” she said.

“It comes down to this idea that men have a right to women’s bodies, in terms of sexuality. It comes down to the idea that women are gold diggers, that they make up stories of sexualized violence. There’s a whole range of ways in which survivors are victim-blamed when they speak their experience. And these are well-worn tropes, well-established myths and stereotypes.”

A civil lawsuit was filed in Kelowna alleging Virtanen took an 18-year-old woman to a hotel in West Vancouver in September 2017 and assaulted her as the woman repeatedly said no and pleaded with him to stop.

The notice is seeking punitive and exemplary damages against the 24-year-old hockey player.

However, in Epp’s statement over the weekend, he said because the woman is seeking money through her civil lawsuit, “this could be determined as an attempt to destroy a person’s reputation in the press before the ordinary processes could run their course, or an attempt to obtain financial compensation from a high-profile athlete.”

But MacDougall explains that survivors choose what form of justice makes sense for them.

“It’s about restitution for damages. Sexualized violence causes extraordinary impact, in a multitude of ways — physically, psychologically, emotionally. And it takes years for many survivors to heal from their experience with sexualized violence.”

The statement of claim said the woman suffered physical and emotional damage, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and repeated and ongoing nightmares.

“Virtanen’s actions were deliberate, flagrant, and outrageous,” the notice reads, claiming his “actions were premeditated and intentional.”

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Virtanen has denied the allegation in a response filed on June 1, saying the pair had consensual sex and denying that the woman “expressed any indication, verbal or physical, that she did not want to engage in physical activity.”

Epp reiterated that Virtanen denies allegations in his recent statement.

Virtanen is asking for the lawsuit to be dismissed and for the court to award him special costs due to the nature of the allegations.

No criminal charges have been laid. The allegation has not been tested in court.

 

– With files from Nikitha Martins, Vanessa Doban, Greg Bowman and The Canadian Press

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