Warning: This story discusses sexual assault that may be triggering for some readers. For those seeking help, the Battered Women’s Support Services crisis line is 604-687-1867 or toll-free 1-855-687-1868.
A Vancouver-based non-profit is calling for urgent action from all levels of government after a high-risk offender on parole allegedly sexually assaulted a teenage girl in a public bathroom in Vancouver.
The Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) is calling on the government to make gender based violence a public safety emergency. Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director of BWSS, in a post on the organization's website, described Wednesday's assault as a failure on multiple levels and is urging the municipal, provincial, and federal governments to take action.
“A 14-year-old was assaulted in a city bathroom. If our national and provincial plans don’t prevent that, they’re not working. They need to be more than documents—they need to be lifelines,” MacDougall said.
John Frederick Field of Surrey was charged Thursday (May 29) with sexual assault with a weapon against a person under 16, forcible confinement, carrying a concealed weapon, robbery and assault.
Police say the crime spree is believed to have started at around 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday (May 28) inside an office building near Oakridge Centre at Cambie Street and West 41st Avenue, where a 58-year-old woman "was leaving a medical appointment when she was grabbed in the hallway and assaulted by a stranger. She screamed and managed to get away without serious physical injury," read a release from the Vancouver Police Department (VPD).
"Minutes later, a 14-year-old girl was using a public washroom in the same building when she was sexually assaulted and forcibly confined by a stranger who was armed with a knife. The suspect escaped after another person tried to enter the washroom as the sexual assault was taking place," reads the release.
Multiple people called 9-1-1 to report the sexual assault.
The suspect then allegedly entered a bank on the ground floor of the same building and robbed it. The victim provided police with a detailed description of Field, allowing them to arrest him quickly upon arrival at the scene. He remains in police custody until his next court appearance on June 12.
Field's has a long list of criminal convictions and was on probation at the time of the sexual assault.
MacDougall said, “We ask ourselves, ‘How could this happen?’ But the truth is, it keeps happening—because we refuse to take gender-based violence seriously. This wasn’t random. It was predictable. And it was preventable.”
The focus is often on making changes to Canada's bail law, but MacDougall said, “this isn’t only about bail reform—it’s about the failure to treat male violence against women and girls as high-risk behaviour. When gender is left out of risk management, survivors are left out of safety planning.”
MacDougall noted that this case is symbolic of how "public safety systems fail survivors" and pointed to several systemic gaps, which include:
- "Lack of mandated, evidence-based risk assessment tools especially for repeat or sexualized violence and lack of applying tool in decisions about releasing men back into the public.
- Failure to track coercive control, violence against women, or escalating threats as high-risk indicators.
- No consistent integration of GBV (gender based violence) prevention in public safety or justice strategies at municipal, provincial, or federal levels."
She urged the public to look at the circumstances that led up to this incident.
The post also suggested some immediate steps that the government should take, including expanding funding to the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence and BC’s Safe and Supported Action Plan and ensuring they have clear timelines, targets, and accountability.
MacDougall had a message for elected officials:
“If this story makes you angry, good. It should. But don’t let it end there. Do something. Fund the work. Listen to survivors. Fix the systems that failed this girl—and that fail so many others every day.”
Representatives from BWSS are scheduled to meet with Vancouver's mayor Ken Sim on Monday "to press for urgent policy and funding action."
BWSS offers support and assistance for survivors and victims of gender-based violence, including community resources and referrals to transition houses, lawyers and medical services.
Resources:
BATTERED WOMEN'S SUPPORT SERVICES
BWSS offers support and assistance for those in crisis, including community resources and referrals to transition houses, lawyers and medical services.
- Crisis Line at 604-687-1867 (Metro Vancouver) or toll-free, 1-855-687-1868
- Email: intake@bwss.org
- Website : bwss.org
If you or someone you know needs help with an abusive home situation, resources are available:
SURREY WOMEN'S CENTRE
Surrey Women’s Centre is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to support women and girls facing gender-based violence and to help care for women and children escaping violence.
- surreywomenscentre.ca
- info@surreywomenscentre.ca
- 604-589-1868
