Sexual assault is an involuntary sexual act in which a person is coerced or physically forced to engage against their will, or any non-consensual sexual touching of a person. This is stated under assault in section 265 of the Criminal Code. Unfortunately enough, it is very common with one in four North American women being sexually assaulted during their lifetime. Sexual assault is a top tier issue in Canada. The terrifying part of the issue is that 80% of assailants are friends and family of the victim and 80% of sexual assault incidents occur in the home of the victim. The people and place that most people feel safe around and in, is where they are the most vulnerable. That alone should exhibit the significance of this increasing problem in Canada.
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Consent of sexual assault is stated in s.265 ss.1 (a) of the Criminal Code, “Without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly.” However, consent is a very viable defence to a charge of sexual assault because the accused could have had an honest and reasonable, even if mistaken belief that the victim was consenting to sexual contact. If there is not sufficient amount of physical evidence the case becomes one person’s word against another’s which leads to each individual in the case having practically a 50% of winning, but more favoured in the accused side due to overcrowding in prisons. Therefore, Canadian criminal law does not provide the proper protection for citizens in sexual assaults in terms of the consent aspect. An instance of this is in R v. Ewanchuk. Ewanchuk interviewed a 17 year-old woman in his van for a job and after the interview he invited her to his trailer. He then began to
Consent of sexual assault is stated in s.265 ss.1 (a) of the Criminal Code, “Without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly.” However, consent is a very viable defence to a charge of sexual assault because the accused could have had an honest and reasonable, even if mistaken belief that the victim was consenting to sexual contact. If there is not sufficient amount of physical evidence the case becomes one person’s word against another’s which leads to each individual in the case having practically a 50% of winning, but more favoured in the accused side due to overcrowding in prisons. Therefore, Canadian criminal law does not provide the proper protection for citizens in sexual assaults in terms of the consent aspect. An instance of this is in R v. Ewanchuk. Ewanchuk interviewed a 17 year-old woman in his van for a job and after the interview he invited her to his trailer. He then began to