NCJ Number
101770
Date Published
1986
Length
90 pages
Annotation
While the Badgley Committee Report on sexual offenses against children is to be commended for illuminating the issue of child sexual abuse and the inadequacies of existing protections, the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) -- a voluntary organization concerned with women in conflict with the law -- cannot support all of the report's recommendations.
Abstract
The Committee focused unduly on deterrence and intervention; and a number of the recommendations are discriminatory, paternalistic, or outdated. Further, the report places inappropriate and indiscriminate reliance on criminal law as a vehicle for dealing with behaviors about which there may be no consensus as to their criminality. Finally, inappropriate and unnecessary offenses are created in an attempt to 'protect' young people from sexual activity as well as from sexual abuse. CAEFS favors prosecuting nonconsensual sexual activity pursuant to the sexual assault provisions already existing in the Criminal Code. It also supports amendments to the Code that will protect all children from nonconsensual heterosexual and homosexual acts that constitute an assault or threat of an assault. Finally, CAEFS feels that the committee should have made stronger recommendations with respect to the need for increased services for women, children, and families, and for prevention-oriented educational programs. 28 footnotes.