Facing Canada’s rape culture problem

Gender-based violence researchers, feminists and activists use the term “rape culture” to describe a society where violence against women, girls and gender-diverse people is normalized, victims are blamed and perpetrators are routinely excused.

Earlier this month, it reared its head again: this time among school-aged youth in an Alberta school.

Boys at Camrose Composite High School reportedly listed girls they wanted to sexually assault or mutilate in a series of Snapchat group messages. According to news coverage, one boy even called himself a “rapist” in the chat.

Following this discovery, students walked out in protest against this technology-facilitated gender-based violence.

Technology-facilitated gender-based violence involves the use of digital and emerging technologies to stalk, surveil, harass or humiliate a target — typically a woman, girl or member of an additionally equity-denied group.

Instances of this form of violence are not uncommon, including among youth. In fact, within the same week, two 14-year-old boys were charged after they allegedly used artificial intelligence to create graphic deepfake nudes of multiple girls from Edmonton high schools.

As of publication, no charges or school disciplinary findings have been publicly confirmed in connection with the Camrose incident. But what happened in the days after the chat surfaced says as much about Canada’s rape culture as the chat itself.

WHEN INSTITUTIONS USE NEUTRAL LANGUAGE

The problem isn’t just boys engaging in technology-facilitated gender-based violence. It’s also how others in their environment react to these kinds of events.

First, there is the culture of impunity. The social media threads were allegedly active since fall 2025, with multiple boys said to have contributed over that period of time. Then, according to a Grade 12 student who was part of the protest, when other students tried to report the chat to school officials, they were told by a staff member that “boys will be boys.”

The phrase “boys will be boys” is a hallmark of rape culture. This saying deftly writes off responsibility for the boys and men who perpetuate abuse. It also leaves girls, women and gender-diverse individuals to deal with the consequences without benefiting from a sense of justice, closure or, at bare minimum, support.

Consequences of gender-based violence can be physical, emotional, sexual or economic, to name a few. For example, costs can quickly mount when therapy is needed or a survivor misses work. Meanwhile, a culture that normalizes gender-based violence creates a space where abuse continues unchecked.

Equally notable is the school’s persistently gender-neutral language. Instead of disclosing that the thread’s creators were boys, the Battle River School Board’s statements call them “students.” Such gender neutrality rewrites Canada’s gender-based violence problem as something all students face or perpetrate equally, which is far from the case.

This gender-neutral language had downstream effects. It made it hard for media outlets, in the wake of the Camrose events, to clarify to the public that gendered abuse specifically had taken place.

As a scholar whose work explores technology-facilitated gender-based violence and who was interviewed by news media in the aftermath of the Camrose events, I can attest to this. The school board’s and police’s gender neutrality made it hard to comment on the case in a way that meaningfully raised awareness about violence against girls or allowed for an intervention in the issue.

CANADA’S GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE PROBLEM

The use of social media apps and AI tools by school-aged children (typically boys) to create deepfake pornography of classmates (typically girls) is on the rise.

Research has linked growing misogynistic attitudes among teen boys broadly to influencers like Andrew Tate and manosphere rhetoric — a trend made worse by a society that ineffectually addresses gender-based violence.

This degendering of violence — leaving out specifics about who most perpetrates and who most experiences it — is common in rape culture. And it makes it harder for critics, scholars and activists to paint a complete picture of Canada’s deadly problem.

While violent crime has decreased overall through the years in Canada, gender-based violence has continued to rise.

One woman or girl is killed every 48 hours, primarily by men. One in four women reports gender-based violence to the police, although experts believe one in three actually face it, but are too afraid, due to stigma or potential disbelief, to report. Women are five times more likely to face sexual assault than men, and four times more likely to experience intimate partner violence.

The risk, however, is distributed in additionally unequal ways. The highest rates of gender-based violence are experienced by specific marginalized groups.

Indigenous women and girls are far more likely to be murdered or to disappear than other women in Canada. Transgender and gender-diverse people experience violent victimization at substantially higher rates than cisgender people. Women of colour, and those with disabilities or from rural areas, are among the groups facing the highest rates of GBV.

WHAT A BETTER RESPONSE LOOKS LIKE

Still, there are hopeful aspects to the Camrose case.

Young people have a voice, as evidenced by the student protests. They are making clear that they are experiencing Canada’s gender-based violence problem, especially as it extends onto digital platforms, and that this is not OK.

It is also heartening to know that boys were standing alongside girls and gender-diverse individuals near their high school in support, and to hear their thoughtful commentary in news broadcasts. Hopefully, more will join.

Similarly, in the case of the two boys who created deepfakes, a schoolteacher reported the matter and charges were laid. When educators act meaningfully to protect students, it is another step in the right direction.

We can all learn to better respond to gender-based violence, both online and offline. First, don’t normalize misogynistic threats and behaviour — it extends the harm that victims will experience while minimizing responsibility for the perpetrator.

Second, don’t degender the crime. Doing so makes this deadly Canadian issue seem like something all people face equally, when it isn’t. Third, when students are courageous enough to come forward about gender-based violence, acknowledge their experience and be of assistance to them. Research shows harm is reduced when survivors experience support and care.

And finally, help men and boys by providing a safe space for them to be vulnerable and express emotions without shame. They too have been harmed by a society that demands that they be tough, stoic and aggressive and that they reject what is “feminine” as weak and less than.

» Nicolette Little is an adjunct assistant professor of media and technology studies at the University of Alberta.

» This column was originally published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca