Citation

Roberts JV. Juristat 1994; 14(7): 1-19.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1994, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12322312

Abstract

This article discusses the processing of criminal justice on sexual assault cases in Canada. To begin with, in 1983, Bill C-127 abolished the offense of rape and indecent assault and created three new crimes of sexual assault and three parallel offenses of assault. This legislation also introduced a number of important changes to the way crimes of sexual aggression are processed by the criminal justice system. In 1991, the Supreme Court struck down provisions of the sexual assault legislation preventing a defendant from introducing evidence regarding complainant's previous sexual conduct. As a result, Bill C-49 was introduced to provide a test to determine whether a complainant's sexual history could be admitted at trial. This bill also addresses the issue of consent and the defense of mistaken beliefs in consent. The focus of the Juristat is the criminal justice processing of the three levels of sexual assault, which are elaborated in this article. In order to distinguish between the different levels, body harm relates only to physical injury and does not include psychological harm. Drawing on the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, the Sentence Study, the Adult Criminal Court Survey and the Youth Court Survey, the Juristat summarizes recent trends relating to the processing of sexual assault and assault by the police and the courts. Canada's Violence Against Women Survey provides a profile of sexual assault incidents among adult women in Canada.

Language: fr