Acquittal of man accused of rape prompts protest

By Laura Atherton

A group of anti-sexual violence advocates recently held a protest outside the Ottawa courthouse to push for the Canadian justice system to better train judges in regards to sexual assault cases.

The Oct. 30 protest was in response to the recent acquittal of a man in a case at the downtown courthouse who was accused of spousal rape. Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Smith found the man not guilty on the basis of the couple’s testimony that neither of them knew that it was a criminal act for a husband to compel his wife to have sex.

Originally from the Middle East, the couple settled in Ottawa and divorced in 2013. The accusation of forced sex stemmed from a 2002 incident, according to a recent Ottawa Citizen report on the case.

“I find that the accused probably had sex with his wife on many occasions without her specific consent, as both he and she believed that he had the right to do so,” Smith stated in the ruling that outlined his reasons for the acquittal, ultimately based on the husband’s lack of knowledge that he was breaking any law.

Allison Pilon, who organized the protest, said a case like this is dangerous not only because it can be used as a precedent for future cases, but also because it perpetuates a certain mind-set about sexual violence. “It sends a message as well that somehow this is OK,” Pilon said, “It’s an old idea that once you’re married, you’re the property of your spouse.”

Pilon said judges need training that is less about actual laws, but more focused on misconceptions of sexual violence. “It’s not the law that’s unclear,” said Pilon, “It’s the myths and the interpretations of the law.”

The Ontario Judicial Council’s Continuing Education Plan, released this spring, currently requires new federally appointed judges to complete two weeks of classes that include sensitivity and social context training – topics that relate to but aren’t specific to sexual assault law.

For current judges, there is no mandatory training. “It’s a step forward and it’s necessary but it’s not enough,” Pilon said of the judges’ education program. “I don’t see how they can be exempt if they’ve been sitting on the bench already. It should be mandatory for all judges.”

Honourable Justice C. Adèle Kent, executive director of the Centretown-based National Judicial Institute, said that although there currently isn’t specific training for sexual assault law, the NJI offers courses twice a year open to all judges on varying subjects, which in the past have included sexual assault cases. These courses however, are not mandatory for all judges.

“I’m all in favour of lots of education for judges,” said Kent, “Whether or not to make any particular course mandatory is up to the chief justices and the Canadian Judicial Council.”

Caitlin Salvino, co-founder of Our Turn, a student-led action plan to reform university sexual violence policies, argued that the justice system’s misunderstanding of sexual violence starts far before a victim reaches the courtroom.

“It’s beyond just the judges,” Salvino explained, “There’s an issue in the first instance when you go to report a crime of sexual violence. At disproportionately higher rates the police won’t believe you.”

In an investigation published earlier this year, the Globe and Mail found that, on average, police in Canada dismiss one in five alleged sexual assaults as baseless, an “unfounded” rate “dramatically higher than that of other types of crime.”

Salvino said that recent high-profile cases in which judges have made insensitive comments have made it harder for victims to come forward. In 2014, a judge in Alberta asked the victim of an alleged rape why she hadn’t done more to resist: “Why couldn’t you just keep your knees together?”

And in May, a judge in Quebec suggested that since a victim was overweight, she therefore must have enjoyed the attention from her alleged attacker.

“When you experience sexual violence, why would you come forward when all that you’re reading is that the criminal justice system is not sensitively or appropriately dealing with these issues? Why would you re-traumatize yourself?” said Salvino.

Former interim federal Conservative leader Rona Ambrose has acknowledged this education gap and introduced Bill C-337, which, if made a law, would require all judges to complete sexual assault training.

“We need to build confidence in our system so more sexual assault survivors feel comfortable coming forward,” Ambrose stated in the House of Commons in February.

The bill has been passed in the House of Commons but remains under consideration in the Senate.