{"id":6689,"date":"2010-11-05T20:24:49","date_gmt":"2010-11-06T00:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/?post_type=cases&p=3934"},"modified":"2020-12-11T11:28:14","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T16:28:14","slug":"r-v-j-a-2","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.leaf.ca\/fr\/news\/r-v-j-a-2\/","title":{"rendered":"LEAF Intervening before SCC in R. v. J.A."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There is No Consent to Sex When a Woman is Unconscious\/Incapacitated
LEAF Intervening in Supreme Court of Canada on November 8, 2010<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For Immediate Release<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

November 5, 2010, Toronto<\/strong> – On Monday, November 8, 2010 LEAF will appear before the Supreme Court of Canada in the case of R. v. J.A. to argue that the Court should not introduce a novel concept of \u00ab\u00a0advance\u00a0\u00bb consent to sexual relations into Canadian law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00ab\u00a0The accused is asking the Supreme Court to turn the clock back twenty years\u00a0\u00bb says LEAF Legal Director Joanna Birenbaum. \u00ab\u00a0A vital part of the meaning of consent is the right to say \u00ab\u00a0no\u00a0\u00bb at any point. The accused is asking the Court to change the law so that a woman’s earlier \u00ab\u00a0yes\u00a0\u00bb continues, even after she becomes unconscious, extremely intoxicated, or otherwise unable to say \u00ab\u00a0no\u00a0\u00bb. Any change in law to recognize \u00ab\u00a0advance\u00a0\u00bb consent would be dangerous and regressive.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case involves a woman who reported that she was sexually assaulted by her common-law spouse J.A. On the night in question, the accused strangled the complainant into unconsciousness. The complainant estimates that she was unconscious for approximately three minutes. When she awoke, she found herself bound and being anally penetrated with a dildo. The accused says that the complainant consented \u00ab\u00a0in advance\u00a0\u00bb to the strangulation and the anal penetration that would take place while she was unconscious. The complainant first reported to the police that she did not consent to the sexual activity. Later, the complainant recanted. Her evidence at trial was described by the judge as a \u00ab\u00a0typical cross-examination of a recanting complainant in a domestic matter.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00ab\u00a0This case is not about ‘S & M’ nor is it about women’s sexual autonomy or liberty. Unconscious women enjoy no sexual pleasure and exercise no autonomy. \u00ab\u00a0Advance\u00a0\u00bb consent makes a mockery of the legal and social understanding of consent\u00a0\u00bb says Birenbaum. \u00ab\u00a0Instead, this case raises serious concerns about wife assault. A doctrine of \u00ab\u00a0advance\u00a0\u00bb consent would offer dangerous abusers who strangle their partners a defence to otherwise potentially deadly criminal activity. More generally, it will effectively revive the marital rape exemption. The ongoing consent of wives or intimate partners will be assumed or implied from the nature of the relationship.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEAF’s intervener factum argues that any recognition of \u00ab\u00a0advance\u00a0\u00bb consent in law will have significant and serious implications for the lives and safety of women, particularly women who are already more likely to be targeted for sexual assault, such as intoxicated women, women with disabilities and Aboriginal women. \u00ab\u00a0The burden will shift to women to prove that they never gave \u00ab\u00a0advance\u00a0\u00bb consent\u00a0\u00bb, says Birenbaum. \u00ab\u00a0This is totally unacceptable and in many instances will be a near-impossible threshold. It is the man’s responsibility to ensure that his partner is actively consenting at the time of the sexual activity.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan Chapman and Elizabeth Sheehy will be representing LEAF at the hearing. LEAF’s intervener factum can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, please contact:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joanna Birenbaum (LEAF Litigation Director\/Co-Counsel)
(416) 595-7170 ext. 223 (office)
(647) 500-3005 (cell)
j.birenbaum@leaf.ca <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan Chapman – Co-Counsel
(416) 364-8773 (office)
(416) 276-2794 (cell)
smchapman@papebarristers.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEAF is a national, non profit organization committed to confront all forms of discrimination through legal action, public education, and law reform to achieve equality for women and girls under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. For more information, please visit us at www.leaf.ca<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categories":[210,95,97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6689","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","category-leaf-cases","category-sexual-assault","category-violence-against-women-cases"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLEAF Intervening before SCC in R. v. 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