$1.2 million in Canada Research Council funding is going to 29 research projects at Lakehead University.
Assistant Professor Jodie Murphy-Oikonen tells us she’ll be using the money to interview sexual assault survivors whose cases were dismissed because police deemed them unfounded.
“Essentially [it] means the crime has been coded as false or baseless, essentially a lie, that the woman has lied about the assault.”
The Lakehead University Social Work professor is going to speak with women in Thunder Bay, Sioux Lookout, Dryden and Kenora.
Murphy-Oikonen is going to be studying why the cases were deemed unfounded and whether the women involved were even told their claims were dismissed.
Last July, the code of “unfounded” was removed from the criminal code.
Another study will look at improving the lives of international university students who can’t afford food.
Sociology Assistant Professor Barbara Parker says she will be looking at what can be done to help improve the lives of students who rely on food banks.
“We need to see structural changes in universities across Canada, in terms of funding models and support for students while they are pursuing an education.”
Finally, Dr. Travis Hay is going to use $81,000 to spend two years investigating how southern medical schools in Ontario historically used Indigenous communities in the north as a training ground.
“These communities are getting a lesser form of health care because they are dealing with medical professionals who are under-trained, and once they get that training they go on to provide health care to other Canadians.”
