Windsor police have launched a new initiative to make it easier to report sexual assaults.
Two detectives from the Major Crimes Branch have spearheaded the project to allow sexual assault victims to report the crime online.
There is a link on the Windsor Police website where a victim can enter in the appropriate information.
Police stress this is for non-emergency reporting, and there is no risk of evidence, like DNA, being lost.
"If you are in danger, please call 911," says Sergeant Steve Betteridge.
Windsor Police Detective Ted Novak says 90 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to police.
"Research has shown that nine out of ten sex assaults go unreported for a number of reasons, our goal is to increase the level of reporting of these offences to a more realistic number," he says. "They just don't feel safe or the victim is afraid of not being believed, that is the biggest thing, people are in situations like bar situations or like in the video, a dating situation, there is guilt."
Detectives Dave Tennent (left) and Detective Ted Novak (right) announce the launch of the online sexual assault reporting initiative. September 26, 2017 (Photo by AM800's Teresinha Medeiros)
Detective Dave Tennent says any increase in the number of reported cases, is a success.
"If that goes up, like right now there are one out ten are reported, so if that goes up to two out of ten, I mean that is huge for us, that is a 100 percent gain."
The Windsor Police Service received a $150,000 grant from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services to launch the initiative.
On average, there are 170 reported sexual assaults to Windsor police annually.