The phrase
"assault complainants" refers to people who have reported to the authorities that they were attacked or harmed by someone.
Full definition
The brutalization of sexual
assault complainants in the criminal courts has notoriously left women unwilling to turn to the law for justice.
West Coast LEAF joined a national coalition of women's organizations to intervene in the September 2016 inquiry into the conduct of Justice Camp, who came under fire for asking a sexual
assault complainant why she couldn't just keep her knees together and making many other troubling remarks during the trial.
Headlines abound about «Alberta judge who asked
sex assault complainant about keeping her knees closed», the «Hamilton judge who wore Trump hat» and the «Nova Scotia judge under fire for claiming «a drunk can consent»» So notorious are concerns about Canadian judges that the comedy show This Hour has 22 Minutes ran a sketch about neighbours being scared when a judge moves in down the street.
The justice system should not be permitted to disregard the laws that protect sexual
assault complainants from unfair attacks on their credibility and unfounded assumptions that they gave consent.
Lauzon, [2007] A.J. No. 768 (QB): Appeal by accused from conviction for assault — Appellant charged
with assaulting complainant at remand centre — Complainant did not testify at trial — Officer's evidence only referred to complainant's last name — No evidence adduced that at time of offence, there was only one inmate with complainant's last name — Crown specified complainant's first name in charge --
On September 11, 2008 N.S., a sexual
assault complainant sat in a court room in Ontario and struggled to explain to a judge why she shouldn't have to remove her niqab, face veil, while she testified.
Ottawa judge accused of attempting to look up sex
assault complainant by creating fake dating profile, The Globe and Mail
As noted in the Factum of the Intervener of the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), the accused had been convicted of
assaulting the complainant on two previous occasions, and as noted by the trial judge, the complainant's recantation on the issue of consent was typical of a domestic violence context (at para. 2).
West Coast LEAF joined a coalition of women's organizations from across Canada to intervene in the September 2016 inquiry into the conduct of Justice Camp, who came under fire for asking a sexual
assault complainant why she couldn't just keep her knees together and making numerous other egregious comments during the trial.
A Federal Court judge who asked a
sexual assault complainant why she couldn't keep her knees together wants to keep serving on the bench and plans to apologize for his remarks at a public hearing.
Over the past year, the treatment of sexual
assault complainants in the justice system has received a great deal of mainstream media attention.
«Justice Camp's shocking comments perpetuate harmful stereotypes and myths about sexual
assault complainants,» says Raji Mangat, Director of Litigation at West Coast LEAF.
The coalition will make arguments about the impact of Justice Camp's behaviour on survivors and on public attitudes about sexual assault, and about the legal protections for sexual
assault complainants that Justice Camp allegedly ignored.
But in court, the rules force me to suggest to sexual
assault complainants that they are lying or have imagined the assaults.
The Coalition intervened in the Inquiry to explain that Justice Camp's behaviour would contribute to the many reasons why sexual
assault complainants are reluctant to report.
Horkins's decision cited the victims» contact with Ghomeshi as damaging to their credibility, and said that courts need to be vigilant against the idea that «sexual
assault complainants are always truthful.»
Much of the coverage has focused on how unfairly sexual
assault complainants are treated.
This case involved the complaint arising from the notorious comments he made to a sexual
assault complainant, and other pejorative comments about the law of sexual assault, during a trial when he was a judge of the Provincial Court of Alberta, at Calgary.
This Inquiry has provided an important opportunity to resist unlawful and harmful myths and stereotypes about sexual
assault complainants, which persist even at the highest levels of the justice system.
Justice Camp was alleged to have «made comments which reflected an antipathy towards legislation designed to protect the integrity of vulnerable witnesses, and designed to maintain the fairness and effectiveness of the justice system» [para. 1], and further, «made comments tending to belittle women, and expressing stereotypical or biased thinking in relation to a sexual
assault complainant» [para. 6].
Given increasing public awareness of how the justice system treats sexual
assault complainants, professional regulators should assess how their own processes may reduce the possibility of long - held but questionable assumptions and stereotypes that may taint decision - making.
For example, Justice Zuker, of the Ontario Court of Justice, recently issued a strongly - worded judgment railing against stereotypes, and providing examples of how certain assumptions continued to be used to discredit sexual
assault complainants: R. v. Ururyar, 2016 ONCJ 448.
L'Heureux Dubé provided a scathing opinion, which although agreed generally with the opinion of the majority, felt it necessary to address some of the inappropriate myths and stereotypes around sexual
assault complainants.
Camp is the judge who asked a sexual
assault complainant in a trial why she couldn't «keep her knees together.»
In March, Federal Court Justice Robin Camp — who had asked a sexual -
assault complainant why she did not keep her knees together — resigned after a disciplinary panel recommended his removal.
In a unanimous decision in October 2010, the Ontario Court of Appeal affirmed that a sexual
assault complainant may wear a niqab, a Muslim facial veil, while testifying.
Phrases with «assault complainants»