Group arrested during G20 sue police, alleging profiling, sexual assault

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G20 protesters Devon Ridge, left, and Brian Jeffrey, centre left, and Alicia Ridge face journalists as they hold a news conference outside Toronto Police Headquarters on Wednesday, August 1, 2012. The three are part of a group of seven protesters who are filing a .4 million lawsuit against the Toronto Police Services Board alleging illegal arrests during the 2010 demonstrations. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO – A woman suing Toronto police over her arrest during the G20 Summit two years ago says it’s not just about “hairy legs,” but about what she calls systematic discrimination and intimidation against women.

Alicia Ridge is part of a group of seven people from Hamilton who served police with a $1.4-million lawsuit today, claiming false arrest, battery and malicious prosecution.

The women in the group claim they were profiled by an officer who wrote in his arrest notes that all the women had hairy legs — something he said he associated with G20 protesters.

The group alleges the police wrongfully arrested them on June 27, 2010 — a day after vandals went on a rampage in downtown Toronto — as they emerged from a pizza parlour.

Ridge alleges a police officer grabbed her buttocks and that she was not the only woman in the group who was sexually assaulted.

None of the claims has been proven or tested in court.

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