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Originally Posted by WhiteTiger
There is a LOT of confusion over what does and doesn't constitute sexual assault. It is a very gray area that is open to a lot of interpretation. Which is a big part of the problem. A lot of the wording says "unwanted" attention...but doesn't clarify if it matters when the attention becomes unwanted.
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I'm not sure which "wording" you are referring to, but the Criminal Code does not say "unwanted attention". It says:
265.(1) A person commits an assault when
(a) without the consent of another person, he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly;...
Section 271 creates the offence of sexual assault, but it does not define sexual assault. However, the courts have defined sexual assault as an assault under s. 265(1) committed in circumstances of a sexual nature such as to violate the sexual integrity of the complainant.
I'm not saying that this definition makes things any clearer, but thought that it might be helpful to provide the actual definition so that we are all talking about the same thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WhiteTiger
There are extreme folks out there who say that women can't consent period, and that any sexual act against them is rape.
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I'm not sure what you mean by this, but the Criminal Code expressly provides that certain people are incapable of consent in certain circumstances (people under the age of 16 consenting to sexual activity with persons more than two years older than him or her, for example.) The courts have also recognized circumstances where persons lack the capacity to consent (intoxication, cognitive disabilities, etc.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by WhiteTiger
The truth, of course, is somewhere in the middle. Rape is pretty easy to define...sexual assault is not.
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I'm probably just being a stickler now, but there is no distinction between rape and sexual assault in Canadian law.