NCJ Number
128330
Date Published
1985
Length
150 pages
Annotation
This study documents and analyzes the experience of rape victims within the Canadian criminal justice system prior to the enactment on January 3, 1983, of Bill C-127, a bill to amend the Criminal Code.
Abstract
A historical overview of the Canadian rape laws is presented, beginning with a view of ancient societies through the development of contemporary rape laws. In Part Two, the police processing of rape complaints is explored. Relying on a number of Canadian studies, this section reviews the experience of the rape victim from the report to the police to the medical examination for forensic evidence. Police and medical personnel's misperceptions and prejudices regarding rape are discussed. Part Three discusses how the law has developed special rules and conventions to deal with rape cases. The discussion explores the history of the corroboration rule (victim's testimony must be corroborated by independent evidence) and explains why certain classes of witnesses, including female victims of sexual offenses, were believed to be inherently unreliable. The study explores the rationale underlying the rule and reviews a number of empirical studies which have indicated that the rationale is based in an irrational mistrust of women. In the paper's final section, the issues of convictions and sentencing are discussed, including the likelihood that rapists can be rehabilitated. 498 notes and 50-item bibliography