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Jane Doe says issues facing LGBT community in wake of McArthur case 'resonates completely' with her

A woman who successfully sued Toronto police for allegedly failing to protect her from a serial rapist says there are similarities between her story and the recent cases of men missing from the city's Gay Village.

Jane Doe, who cannot be named because of a long-standing publication ban, won a landmark case against the police 20 years ago after she claimed the force used her as bait to catch a rapist in 1986.

Doe launched the lawsuit in 1987, arguing that investigators were negligent for not making the public aware of the rapist.

Doe said the case of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur "resonates completely" with her.

"I was waiting to see if people would draw on the similarities," she told CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Friday.

McArthur is charged in the deaths of six men, most of whom disappeared from the Gay Village or nearby areas.

The relationship between Toronto's LGBT community and police has reportedly been strained amid concerns about the police's handling of the McArthur investigation, including that police failed to take sufficient action on a string of disappearances of gay men of colour — three of whom McArthur is now accused of murdering.

On Thursday, the Toronto Police Services Board approved a proposal by Mayor John Tory to launch an independent and external review of missing person procedures.

Doe believes 'nothing changed'

After Doe won her case, the city launched an audit into how police investigate sexual assault allegations. Doe said that after 57 recommendations were made she sat on a committee in order to help implement them.

"We were very committed, we established a terms of reference, we were able to be certain that an equal number of community members and police officers were at the table [and] that the police officers ... were in a position to effect change," she said.

But Doe now said she believes "nothing changed." She added she believes that the relationship between police and the LGBT community is "completely fractured."

"If we look at the current case around McArthur and we add racism, throw in some transphobia and anti-sex worker bias, it's crystal clear to me that the work that was done and the precedents that were laid, the lessons that we assumed were learned, were not," Doe said.

However, the LGBT community has been asking for her advice, and Doe is recommending that members of the community try to take a seat at the table the same way she did.

'Lengthy healing process' ahead, says Tory

Thursday's motion for a review called for a seven-member working group, which would include three external members. The group is to be set up by April 28 to advise the board by June on the composition and structure of an external review or reviews.

At the meeting on Thursday, Tory said it was time to get answers to questions around missing-persons reports in an effort to maintain or renew confidence in policing in the city.

"This case is beyond horrific and our community deserves justice, absolute answers and closure," Tory said.

"While I recognize all these things could take time after such a tragedy, I am dedicated to this process so that we can restore trust, confidence and begin what I'm sure will be a lengthy healing process."