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1 Can. J. Women & L. 93 (1985-1986)
Sexual Assault and the Feminist Judge

handle is hein.journals/cajwol1 and id is 113 raw text is: 1985 Sexual Assault and the Feminist Judge © 1985 by Christine Boyle En 1983, le ldgislateur a modifid le Code criminel en vue de remplacenle ddlit du violpar celui de l'agression sexuelle. La rdforme visait surtout dformuler la loi en termes neutres pour permettre de porter des accusations a ce titre contre des femmes atssi bien que des hommes et ainsi rendre le Code criminel conforme aux dispositions de la Charte garantissant l'dgalite des sexes. Christine Boyle examine l'efficacitd d'un libelli neutre (sans diffdrenciation des sexes) pour s'attaquer d unprobleme se rapportant seulement d un sexe, car, comme elle le souligne, le viol desfemmes par les hommes est un problme social bien connu, tandis que le viol des hommespar lesfemmes ne l'estpas. Dans son essai, elle utilise un arrdt (l'arrdt Chase du Nouveau-Brunsw'ick) d titre d'exemple pour iflustrer les limites des lois formuldes en termes neutres, surtout lorsqu 'unjuge du sexe masculin interpr~te la loi dans un optiquesexiste. Dans l'affaire Chase, lesjuges ont ddcidd que lefait de toucher les seins d'une femme sans son consentement se compare au fait de toucherla barbe d'un horn me sans son consentement, puisque les seins et la barbe sont tous deux des caractdristiques sexuelles secondaires. Par consdquent, le fait de toucber les seins d'une femme ne constitue pas une agression sexuelle. Christine Boyle se demande comment unjugefdministe dtablirait une distinction (dans le sstemejudiciaire actuel) entre l'agression sexuelle et l'agression ordinaire (non sexuelle). Elle conclut que le problrme de ddcider quand le sexe est important constitue une desprincipales questions constitutionnelles, juridiques etpolitiques de notre dpoque. The premises of this essay require the reader to consider feminist judging in our present world, with all its imperfections and inequalities. This is not a utopian essay. It does not contain a vision of a world in which feminist values pervade the legal system. A great deal therefore is not challenged but rather is taken for granted. Firstly, the analysis in this essay assumes that the Canadian criminal justice system exists in its present form. In this system, parliament has labelled certain activities as crimes. These activities are labelled as crimes when parliament determines that they so seriously harm the public that they ought to be dealt with by the criminal law with its range of severe sanctions, rather than being left to individual morality, individual retribution, civil law, or the human rights process. Once an individual is charged with a crime, the accused person is tried in a formal, adversarial setting; if the accused is convicted or admits guilt, then the individual may be punished in a variety of ways, including imprisonment. Nothing in this VOL. I

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