OPP's gender diversity move could backfire, advocate warns

The OPP's decision to stop publicly releasing the gender of people involved in crimes may have unintended consequences, a women's advocate is warning.

• OPP no longer identifying gender of victims and accused involved in crimes

The provincial police saythe move is meant to respect gender diversity, and will apply to both suspects and victims.

Violence against women and gender-based violence are social issues, they're not private issues. But making that information unavailable invisibilizes that.- Erin Leigh, Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women

But Erin Leigh,the executive director of the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women, saidit could have the effect of concealing violence against women and gender-diverse people.

"If you don't mention the gender of the victim or the person perpetrating the crime, you don't actually know what's going on," Leigh toldOttawa Morning hostRobyn Bresnahanon Tuesday.

"Violence against women and gender-based violence are social issues, they're not private issues. But making that information unavailable invisibilizes that."

Can lead to assumptions

Leigh said withholding gender isn't such an issue for crimes likeimpaired driving. The problemarises when it comes to crimes involving violence, she said.

The OPP said they will still reveal the name, age andhometown of people involved in crimes.

But Leighpointed out names don'talways align with gender identity, which can lead to assumptions about gender.That's "not in the spirit of actually addressing gender-diverse people, and being more inclusive," she said.

The change in policy was spurred bya review of the Police Services Act,the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act andthe Ontario Human Rights Code, according to the OPP.

The OPP said they will continue to collect data on genderfor their own statistics.

As recently as Monday, some OPP detachments in eastern Ontario were continuing to identify suspects' gender in news releases.

Municipalpolice services including those in Ottawa, Toronto and London continue to identify the gender of both suspects and victims of crime.