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Over the course of the Ghomeshi trial, the defence was relentless while questioning the witnesses. It has many calling for change in how the judicial system treats the alleged victims of sexual assault.
Lenore Lukasik-Foss works for the sexual assault centre in Hamilton. She says the way the victims have been treated in the Ghomeshi case is flawed. After a victim works up the courage to report the assault to the police the next step is coming to court, where they will not only have to re-live their traumatic experience but also face tough cross examination.
In the Ghomeshi trial we heard a lot about what the relationship one of the victims had with Ghomeshi was like after the alleged assault. There are laws in place that prevent questioning about previous sexual behaviour that would imply the witness is more likely to have consented. But it hasn’t really covered post abuse conduct.
Defense lawyer Peter Boushy thinks that if Ghomeshi’s lawyer crossed the line in her questioning of the witnesses the judge would have intervened.
Sexual abuse lawyer Karen Bellehumeur has a couple ideas on how the system can be fixed to protect the victims of sexual assault. One is to provide the victim with a lawyer to protect and guide them through the process. The other is to treat these cases as if they were civil matters.
According to Stats Canada there are nearly half a million sexual assaults in the country every year. Out of every 1000 only 33 are reported, only 6 go to trial and 3 result in convictions.
