Status of Women committee  We do use the terms interchangeably just to register the contested nature of that language, which is not specific to sexual assault. The legislation, as you know, was enacted in about 1984, which changed the terminology from rape to sexual assault and three categories were constr

Status of Women committee  It needs to be revisited and certainly anyone working in that area would agree that it needs to be revisited. What has happened is that we've taken violence out of sexual assault, out of rape, and we are presently in a condition where sexual assault three, third level, which mean

Status of Women committee  I think any woman would tell you that. I think we've gotten into a situation where one woman's rape is more violent or is different from another woman's, and the legislation has supported that and created that. It was seen as progressive at the time. Certainly many feminists—a wo

Status of Women committee  Thank you. I agree with everything that you're saying. I think there is good data out there. I think there's incredible research out there, magnificent research, specific to violence against women, that has not been incorporated into a data collection process by Statistics Canad

Status of Women committee  Thank you, Ms. Sellah. I do not believe that longer or extensive prison sentences work in any way, especially for the 80% of women who are raped or sexually assaulted by the men to whom they are economically and emotionally tied. In fact they suffer from those sentences, espec

Status of Women committee  From my understanding of the programs at John Howard, which does some very good work, their anger management programs don't work. It's crazy; it's a course that you're mandated to take, but they are not as informed as they should be. The issue isn't just anger. The anger is comin

Status of Women committee  Yes.

Status of Women committee  No, nor am I familiar with anyone working in the area who was.

Status of Women committee  Any strain on the legal system has not come from women who experience violence. You're not eligible to apply, whether the issue is intimate partner violence or sexual assault.

Status of Women committee  You don't get that financial aid, which then of course makes it incredibly difficult to get to the legal system. Personally, my civil suit was scores of millions of dollars. I was funded, but it's erroneous to say the courts are open to everyone. They're open to those who can aff

Status of Women committee  Absolutely.

Status of Women committee  Well, one recommendation I have specific to violence against women is that women have to have their own legal representation. In a sexual assault case, the woman has no legal representation. The crown attorney purports to be that, but he is there to represent the state, or Regina

Status of Women committee  Absolutely, and one way to empower them, aside from that, is that women need information, so they can make an informed decision about where they're going and how.

Status of Women committee  I'm not separating rape culture from the workplace, from the family, from sports, or from the government. I think we separate these things way too much. We live in a rape culture, period, and it is out of control in all of our sectors and all of our institutions. We just don't kn

Status of Women committee  I certainly would agree. I'm familiar with a project at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. It's called the anti-violence project, and it's university-based of course. They're late in the game, but they've done an incredible job of looking at sexual assault specific