Difference between pages "Family Violence and the Criminal Code" and "Victims of Sexual Assault (4:V)"

Revision as of 02:50, 3 November 2021

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by the Law Students' Legal Advice Program on June 30, 2021.

A. What is Sexual Assault?

Any sexual contact which occurs without the consent of all the people involved is sexual assault. Sexual assault ranges from unwanted touching of a sexual nature to forced sexual intercourse. It can occur anywhere – at school, at work, in a public place or at home. Sexual assault can occur between strangers or those who know each other well, including those who are married. Sexual assault is most often committed by those known to the victim, such as family members, acquaintances or people in positions of trust or authority over the victim.

If you have been in any of the following situations, you may have been a victim of sexual assault:

you have been physically touched in a sexual manner by another person which was not wanted
your words or actions indicated that you did not want to have or continue sexual contact, but the sexual contact continued
you submitted to sexual contact because someone threatened or used force on you
you were not able to give consent to sexual contact (for example, you were drugged, impaired, or have a disability)
someone persuaded you to have sexual contact by using their position of authority or power over you

Legal age of consent The legal age of consent to sexual activity is 16. However, there are “close in age” exceptions for youth as young as 12 years old. A 12 or 13-year-old may consent to sexual activity with a partner who is less than two years older than them given that there is no relationship of trust, authority, dependency, or other exploitation. Similarly, a 14 or 15-year-old may consent to sexual activity with a partner who is less than five years older than them if there is no relationship of trust, authority, dependency, or other exploitation. Then, the following table can be tabulated:

Legal Age of Consent

		Youth's Age
		12	13	14	15	16
Partner's Age	12	٧	٧	٧	x	x
	13	٧	٧	٧	٧	x
	14	٧	٧	٧	٧	٧
	15	x	٧	٧	٧	٧
	16	x	x	٧	٧	٧
	17	x	x	٧	٧	٧
	18	x	x	٧	٧	٧
	19	x	x	٧	٧	٧
	20	x	x	x	٧	٧
	21	x	x	x	x	٧
	22	x	x	x	x	٧

When a child is at risk or is being sexually assaulted, it is your legal duty to report the crime.

B. Help for Victims of Sexual Assault

If you believe you or someone you know may have been the victim of a sexual assault once you are in a safe place, you should call the police. If you need emergency medical attention or you are in immediate danger, call 911.

If you do not want to call the police there are other people you can talk to such as VictimLink BC available at 1-800-563-0808, or Healthlink BC available at 811. The Surrey Women’s centre has a mobile assault response team that provides services over the phone and in-person to anyone who has experienced a physical or sexual assault. They are available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You do not have to go to the hospital or make a police report to use their services. The Surrey Women’s centre can be reached at 604-583-1295. More information is available here. Similarly, consult Battered Women’s Support Services here or at 1-855-687-1868. WAVAW provides support services to survivors of sexualized violence who have shared experiences of gender marginalization: cis and trans women, Two-Spirit, trans and/or non-binary people. They advocate for social and systemic change through education, outreach and activism. WAVAW can be reached at 604-255-6344 and 1-877-392-7583 outside the lower mainland. More information on WAVAW is available here.

If the sexual assault involves a child, you should call the Ministry of Children and Family Development’s 24-hour emergency abuse line at 1-800-663-9122.

Even if you do not think that you need immediate medical attention, you should go to the hospital. If you have been assaulted within the last 7 days, there is a special team of nurses and/or doctors at the hospital who can help you. You may need medical attention, even if you do not have visible signs of injury.

Further information on sexual assault and the steps to take if you need help is available here.

C. Help for Students, Faculty and Staff at the University of British Columbia

The Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) is available to help all UBC students, faculty and staff. The SVPRO states they “are a safe place for students, faculty, staff who have experienced sexual violence, regardless of where or when it took place. This includes any attempt or act of a sexual nature without your consent. All gender identities, expressions and sexualities are welcome.” You do not need to make a police report or go to the hospital to get help from SVPRO.

Further information is available here or by calling 604-822-1588.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC|expanded = violence}}{{JPBOFL Editor Badge
+{{REVIEWED LSLAP | date= June 30, 2021}}
-|ChapterEditors = [[Fiona Beveridge]] and [[Samantha Simpson]]
+{{LSLAP Manual TOC|expanded = victims}}
-}}
-{{Clicklawbadge
-|resourcetype = critical resources and <br/> common questions on
-|link = [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/global/search?k=abuse%20%26%20family%20violence family violence issues]
-}}
-==The ''Criminal Code''==
+== A. What is Sexual Assault? ==
-The ''Criminal Code'' is the main federal legislation on criminal law. The ''Criminal Code'' does not specifically address family violence, but there are a number of possible criminal offences that could apply where there has been family violence, including:
+Any sexual contact which occurs without the consent of all the people involved is sexual assault. Sexual assault ranges from unwanted touching of a sexual nature to forced sexual intercourse. It can occur anywhere – at school, at work, in a public place or at home. Sexual assault can occur between strangers or those who know each other well, including those who are married. Sexual assault is most often committed by those known to the victim, such as family members, acquaintances or people in positions of trust or authority over the victim.
-*common assault,
+'''If you have been in any of the following situations, you may have been a victim of sexual assault:'''
-*assault causing bodily harm,
+*you have been physically touched in a sexual manner by another person which was not wanted
-*aggravated assault,
+*your words or actions indicated that you did not want to have or continue sexual contact, but the sexual contact continued
-*sexual assault,
+*you submitted to sexual contact because someone threatened or used force on you
-*attempted murder,
+*you were not able to give consent to sexual contact (for example, you were drugged, impaired, or have a disability)
-*stalking (criminal harassment),
+*someone persuaded you to have sexual contact by using their position of authority or power over you
-*making threats (uttering threats),
-*keeping someone against their will (unlawful confinement), and
-*kidnapping.
-In <span class="noglossary">order</span> for any of these charges to be laid, a complaint must be made to the police. Normally, this takes the form of an emergency 911 call. The police will come to your home and interview you and anyone else who witnessed the event.
+'''Legal age of consent'''
+The legal age of consent to sexual activity is 16. However, there are “close in age” exceptions for youth as young as 12 years old. A 12 or 13-year-old may consent to sexual activity with a partner who is less than '''two years''' older than them given that there is no relationship of trust, authority, dependency, or other exploitation. Similarly, a 14 or 15-year-old may consent to sexual activity with a partner who is less than '''five years''' older than them if there is no relationship of trust, authority, dependency, or other exploitation. Then, the following table can be tabulated:
-After the police have conducted their investigation, the lead officer prepares a document called a ''Report to Crown Counsel'' and sends it to crown counsel (the lawyer for the government). Among other things, the Report to Crown Counsel describes witnesses' statements and recommends if charges should be laid. Crown counsel then decides whether there is enough evidence to lay charges. If they think there is enough evidence, crown counsel will approve the charges and the matter will be set for a hearing before a judge.
+'''Legal Age of Consent'''
+{| class="wikitable"
+|-
+|
+|
+! colspan="5" | Youth's Age
+|-
+|
+|  || 12 || 13 || 14 || 15 || 16
+|-
+! rowspan="11" | Partner's<br />Age
+| 12 || ٧ || ٧ || ٧ || x || x
+|-
+| 13 || ٧ || ٧ || ٧ || ٧ || x
+|-
+| 14 || ٧ || ٧ || ٧ || ٧ || ٧
+|-
+| 15 || x || ٧ || ٧ || ٧ || ٧
+|-
+| 16 || x || x || ٧ || ٧ || ٧
+|-
+| 17 || x || x || ٧ || ٧ || ٧
+|-
+| 18 || x || x || ٧ || ٧ || ٧
+|-
+| 19 || x || x || ٧ || ٧ || ٧
+|-
+| 20 || x || x || x || ٧ || ٧
+|-
+| 21 || x || x || x || x || ٧
+|-
+| 22 || x || x || x || x || ٧
+|}
+When a child is at risk or is being sexually assaulted, it is your legal duty to report the crime.
-==Information for abused persons==
-If you have suffered family violence, call the police. Nothing will happen until you do. If there is evidence of abuse, the police can arrest your partner and may take them into <span class="noglossary">custody</span>. To find out more about what the police can do, you may wish to read [http://clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/2412 Getting Help from the Police or RCMP] and
+== B. Help for Victims of Sexual Assault ==
-[http://clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/2237 Surviving Relationship Violence and Abuse]. If your partner is taken into <span class="noglossary">custody</span>, they will stay there until a judge is able to speak to them. Most of the time, your partner will be released from <span class="noglossary">custody</span> until the trial date following the <span class="noglossary">brief</span> hearing, and the <span class="noglossary">release</span> will be on specific terms and conditions set out in a document called a ''recognizance'' or an ''undertaking''.
-It's important that you call the police right away, or at least fairly soon after the violence. The police will sometimes refuse to take <span class="noglossary">action</span> against your partner on the ground that the complaint was made out of malice or a desire for revenge because of the breakdown of the relationship.
+If you believe you or someone you know may have been the victim of a sexual assault once you are in a safe place, you should call the police. If you need emergency medical attention or you are in immediate danger, call 911.
-You should tell the police — and perhaps crown counsel — about all of your concerns with your partner, whether they're about yourself or your children. You should also tell the police about past incidents of family violence, and whether your partner has ever been arrested for similar problems in the past. If your partner is taken into <span class="noglossary">custody</span>, you will want your concerns addressed in the recognizance on which your partner will be released. Among other things, the court can require that your partner:
+If you do not want to call the police there are other people you can talk to such as VictimLink BC available at 1-800-563-0808, or Healthlink BC available at 811. The Surrey Women’s centre has a mobile assault response team that provides services over the phone and in-person to anyone who has experienced a physical or sexual assault. They are available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. '''You do not have to go to the hospital or make a police report to use their services.''' The Surrey Women’s centre can be reached at 604-583-1295. More information is available [https://surreywomenscentre.ca/services here]. Similarly, consult Battered Women’s Support Services [https://www.bwss.org here] or at 1-855-687-1868. '''WAVAW''' provides support services to survivors of sexualized violence who have shared experiences of gender marginalization: cis and trans women, Two-Spirit, trans and/or non-binary people. They advocate for social and systemic change through education, outreach and activism. WAVAW can be reached at 604-255-6344 and 1-877-392-7583 outside the lower mainland. More information on WAVAW is available [https://www.wavaw.ca/contact/ here].
+If the sexual assault involves a child, you should call the Ministry of Children and Family Development’s 24-hour emergency abuse line at 1-800-663-9122.
-*not go to your home, school, or workplace,
+Even if you do not think that you need immediate medical attention, you should go to the hospital. If you have been assaulted within the last 7 days, there is a special team of nurses and/or doctors at the hospital who can help you. You may need medical attention, even if you do not have visible signs of injury.
-*not go to your children's school or daycare,
-*not come within a certain distance of your home,
-*not <span class="noglossary">contact</span> you or the children, directly or indirectly, and
-*fulfill any other condition that may be necessary for the safety of you and your children.
-Finally, ask that the police and crown counsel keep you up to speed on the progress of the criminal case; you should also ask for a copy of your statement and the recognizance that your partner is released on.
+Further information on sexual assault and the steps to take if you need help is available [https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/law-crime-and-justice/criminal-justice/bc-criminal-justice-system/if-victim/publications/hsh-english-sexual-assault.pdf here].
-===Breaching the recognizance===
-If your partner doesn't follow the terms of their recognizance or undertaking, call the police. They won't be aware that there's a further problem unless you let them know.
+== C. Help for Students, Faculty and Staff at the University of British Columbia ==
-===Call VictimLink===
+The Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (SVPRO) is available to help all UBC students, faculty and staff. The SVPRO states they “are a safe place for students, faculty, staff who have experienced sexual violence, regardless of where or when it took place. This includes any attempt or act of a sexual nature without your consent. All gender identities, expressions and sexualities are welcome.” '''You do not need to make a police report or go to the hospital to get help from SVPRO.'''
-Sometimes calling the police isn't enough and you may need counselling to help you cope with the violence. In particularly bad situations you may need a safe place to stay with your children until the criminal proceeding can be dealt with.
+Further information is available [https://svpro.ubc.ca here] or by calling 604-822-1588.
-Call [http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/helpmap/service/1055 VictimLink BC] at 1-800-563-0808 for assistance. VictimLink BC is a province-wide telephone help line for victims of family violence, and all other crimes at VictimLink BC, a support worker can provide information and referrals to help you deal with the effects of family violence, and arrange for crisis support counselling. VictimLink BC is available free to people across BC and Yukon 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
+{{LSLAP Manual Navbox|type=chapters1-7}}
-You may feel that you need to leave the family home, or you may want to develop a safety plan in case your partner becomes violent again. A victim support worker can help you develop a safety plan or find a place to stay. Again, call VictimLink BC and ask to speak with a victim support worker.
-===Getting back together===
-You must speak to crown counsel if you want to get back together with your partner, or if you want to <span class="noglossary">contact</span> them, or stop the criminal process. You cannot change the terms of your partner's recognizance or drop the charges yourself. Only crown counsel can do that. If you <span class="noglossary">contact</span> your partner, you could be making matters worse since you'll be inviting them to break the terms of the recognizance, which might result in further criminal charges against your spouse.
-==Information for accused persons==
-It is the policy of the provincial Ministry of Justice that incidents of spousal assault are to be treated as significant crimes. As a result, if your partner accuses you of assault, you may be arrested and you could be taken to jail overnight.
-If this happens, you will appear before a justice of the peace or a judge for a bail hearing. If you are arrested on a Friday, this may mean that you'll spend the weekend in custody, although provincial court judges are usually available by telephone or video link. At the bail hearing, the judge will normally require that you promise to follow certain conditions if you want to be released from custody. If you do not agree to abide by the terms the judge wants, you will not be released and you'll stay in jail until the hearing of the charges against you.
-Typically, bail conditions include:
-*not to have <span class="noglossary">contact</span> with your spouse, either directly or indirectly,
-*not to go to your spouse's home, school, or workplace, and
-*to keep the peace and be of good behaviour.
-Other conditions might include restrictions on your use of alcohol and drugs, a curfew, a requirement that you report to a parole officer or the police, a requirement that you not go within a certain number of blocks of the complainant's home, a requirement that you not possess firearms or other weapons, and so forth.
-The judge's conditions will be written down in a document called a ''recognizance'' or an ''undertaking''. It is critical that you follow the terms set out in your recognizance. If you don't, you can be arrested for breaching them, and face a criminal trial on that charge as well. The terms of your recognizance will remain in effect until the trial or until they are changed at a hearing before trial.
-===Lawyers and your bail hearing===
-You have a right to <span class="noglossary">contact</span> a lawyer when you are arrested. Most importantly, you have a right to have a lawyer represent you at your bail hearing. Call one. If family law proceedings have already started in civil court, make sure that the lawyer is aware of the fact, especially if you have children.
-Whether you're able to get a lawyer or not, make sure you speak to duty counsel before your bail hearing. Duty counsel are lawyers paid by the [http://www.lss.bc.ca Legal Services Society (legal aid)] to give advice and limited help to people who have been arrested and do not have legal representation. Usually, duty counsel will try to speak to everyone who has been arrested before the bail hearing. However, if the number of people stuck in cells is high, you may not have that much time with them.
-You will doubtless want to ensure that the terms of your recognizance are fair, not too restrictive, and don't interfere with your ability to see your children or go to work.
-Under certain circumstances, you may not be released from <span class="noglossary">custody</span>, regardless of the conditions you're prepared to agree to. This will depend on things such as the gravity of the alleged offence, any history of related criminal convictions, and the opinion of the crown as to the circumstances of the offence.
-===Getting back together===
-Often a couple will want to get back together or even just want to talk about things after an arrest has been made. Sometimes the complainant will want to ''drop the charges''. A couple of points need to be mentioned:
-*'''Dropping the charges:''' Criminal charges are laid by crown counsel, not by the complainant. The complainant cannot drop the charges. Only the crown can do that.
-*'''Communication with your spouse:''' Do not talk to the complainant, even if they contact you, if your recognizance does not allow you to communicate with them. No matter who initiates the <span class="noglossary">contact</span>, communicating with the complainant is still a breach of the terms of your recognizance and you may face criminal charges for that breach, as well as the other charges.
-*'''Reconciliation:''' If the complainant truly wishes to get back together with you, they must talk to crown counsel and ask that the terms of your recognizance be changed to allow you to communicate with each other or share the same residence. There must be a hearing to vary the terms of the recognizance before those terms will be officially changed.
-==The consequences of criminal charges==
-Among other things, criminal charges relating to family violence can lead to:
-*a ''stay of proceedings'', when the crown doesn't take the charges to trial and no criminal conviction is entered,
-*a ''discharge'' following trial or a guilty plea (a discharge can be absolute or come with certain conditions, like a probation period, and depending on the type of discharge, there may or may not be a conviction and a criminal record),
-*a ''suspended sentence'', with conditions, a period of probation, and a criminal conviction,
-*a ''peace bond'' under section 810 of the ''Criminal Code'', under which the accused will be required to comply with certain conditions, but which is not a criminal conviction and won't give the accused a criminal record, or
-*a conviction punished by a fine, jail time, or both a fine and time in jail.
-The most common results of family violence charges are a suspended sentence with probation or a short period of time in jail. Of course, the consequences of a guilty verdict will depend on the circumstances of the offence and any past record of conduct related to the offence.
-==Resources and Links==
-===Legislation===
-*''[http://canlii.ca/t/52zkc Criminal Code]'', RSC 1985, c C-46
-===Links===
-* [http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/1317 Applying for a Peace Bond and Filing Assault Charges]
-* [http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/1524 Recognizance under section 810 (Peace Bond)]
-* [http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/question/commonquestion/1030 Clicklaw Common Question: What are my rights after arrest, and what might happen after?]
-* [http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/1319 For Your Protection: Peace Bonds and Family Law Protection Orders]
-{{REVIEWED | reviewer = [[Fiona Beveridge]] and [[Samantha Simpson]], April 30, 2019}}
-{{JP Boyd on Family Law Navbox|type=chapters}}
- {{Creative Commons for JP Boyd}}
-[[Category:JP Boyd on Family Law]]

Difference between pages "Family Violence and the Criminal Code" and "Victims of Sexual Assault (4:V)"

Revision as of 02:50, 3 November 2021

A. What is Sexual Assault?

B. Help for Victims of Sexual Assault

C. Help for Students, Faculty and Staff at the University of British Columbia

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