Samantha Geiger has spent most of the past two years looking over her shoulder, living in fear.

The Sooke resident has lived in the town since she was a child but says many people in the town turned against her after she reported a man for sexually assaulting her in May 2020.

Benjamin Kenmare was sentenced to six months in jail and 18 months probation in February 2022 for sexually assaulting Geiger, after a court process that took nearly two years.

During the trial process, a publication ban was put on the case. Geiger wasnB次元官网网址檛 informed of the ban, meaning if anybody searched the case details or KenmareB次元官网网址檚 name on the provinceB次元官网网址檚 Court Services Online database, it would return no results.

For those who were out to discredit Geiger, this poured gasoline on the fire. Geiger says the publication ban on her case prevented her from defending herself and fuelled the harassment and abuse sheB次元官网网址檚 received over the past two years.

Since then, Geiger says sheB次元官网网址檚 been harassed in the street, had her house broken into multiple times, and, on one occasion, was nearly run down by someone who tried to hit Geiger with their car.

B次元官网网址淚f I never would have had a publication ban, he would have never been able to create all of these lies about me,B次元官网网址� Geiger said. B次元官网网址淚 would have been able to stand up for myself and I would have been able to not let it get this far where the community started attacking me.B次元官网网址�

She looked at moving but couldnB次元官网网址檛 afford the skyrocketing real estate prices and didnB次元官网网址檛 want to uproot her daughterB次元官网网址檚 life or move away from her family in Sooke.

Geiger says she only became aware of the publication ban, which is requested by Crown counsel and common on sexual assault cases, in September 2021 after the judgeB次元官网网址檚 decision trial in August.

Around this time, Geiger connected on a survivorB次元官网网址檚 forum with Kelly Favro, a Victoria woman who had successfully lifted her own unwanted publication ban.

Ultimately, Geiger would have to hire her own lawyer via legal aid to lift the publication ban, B次元官网网址渇ighting relentlesslyB次元官网网址� until it was successfully lifted in October of this year. The process took months and was slowed at one point to notify Kenmare.

B次元官网网址淚t was like I needed permission from my rapist to talk about this and lift it, which isnB次元官网网址檛 okayB次元官网网址� it was meant to protect me and all it did was protect him.B次元官网网址�

Since then, she said the community is slowly coming around and the harassment has declined significantly, although her house was broken into as recently as two weeks ago.

Geiger has reported these incidents to the police but has been told thereB次元官网网址檚 not enough evidence to investigate. SheB次元官网网址檚 been urged to keep reporting and was told police have started a file.

B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檝e told me to never go anywhere alone, lock my doors, barricade the doors that IB次元官网网址檓 not using, and itB次元官网网址檚 exhausting,B次元官网网址� she said.

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Alex Berube did not confirm whether a police file has been started, saying B次元官网网址淩CMP typically does not confirm or deny investigations unless there is a public safety concern or an operational need for it.B次元官网网址�

Since her publication ban was lifted, Geiger has sought to share her experience, joining with other survivors as part of a group that started a petition to Parliament, calling for changes in how victims are informed and given choice about publication bans on their cases. Petition e-4192 currently has more than 1,000 signatures and members from the same group of survivors presented to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, leading up to a report released on Dec. 8.

The committee made two recommendations: B次元官网网址渢hat section 486.4 of the Criminal Code be amended so that victims must be informed before a publication ban is imposed and given the opportunity to opt-out at any time in the process,B次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渞ecognizing the importance of the principle of prosecutorial independence, training be given to Crown prosecutors across the country with regard to the needs of victims concerning publication bans.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 think having the petition could change everything, I just really hope this makes it so no other victim has to go through what I have, and what other survivors have.B次元官网网址�

READ MORE: Federal committee backs B.C. womenB次元官网网址檚 calls for change to publication ban rules

READ MORE: Vancouver Island women push to end court-ordered silence of sexual assault victims