What is sexual assault?
Sexual assault is a crime. It involves sexual contact, such as kissing, touching, fondling and intercourse, without consent.
A person may be charged with...
- Sexual Assault
- Sexual Assault Causing Bodily Harm
- Aggravated Sexual Assault
What is consent?
Consent means to voluntarily agree to engage in sexual activity. When threats or force are used to obtain consent, that consent is not voluntary. If a person, such as your boss, teacher, doctor or family member, uses power they have over you to obtain your consent, your consent is not voluntary.
Consent must be clear. If you are too afraid to yell or resist or fight back, your consent cannot be implied. You have the right to decide whether to have sexual relations with another person.
You can consent to some sexual activities without consenting to all sexual activities. For example, you may agree to go on a date and to hold hands or kiss. You may have agreed to have sexual relations on previous occasions. Agreeing to any or all of these things does not mean you consent to other sexual contact. You have the right to say NO to anything, at any time. No one has the right to force you into unwanted sexual activity, no matter what has happened before. NO means NO - always.
Age of Consent
In Canada the age of consent to most sexual activity is 16, with two "close in age" exemptions. Practically speaking this means that...
- youths aged 12 or 13 may consent to sexual activity with someone who is less than 2 years older than them
- youths aged 14 or 15 may consent to sexual activity with someone who is less than 5 years older than them
provided that:
- the other person is not in a position of trust or authority to the young person, or
- someone the young person is dependent on, and
- the sexual activity is not exploitive.
The law also creates a specific "sexual exploitation" offence to protect all young people under the age of 18 from activities such as prostitution, where there is a relationship of trust, authority or dependency.
Sexual Assault is Wrong
Anyone who forces sexual activity on you can be charged with the offence of sexual assault. It does not matter whether the person is a stranger or someone you know, such as a date, friend, relative, spouse or partner. Sexual assault is a crime.
What to do
- call Envision's 24-Hour Abuse / Sexual Assault Support Line at 1-800-214-7083;
- go to the hospital for medical care;
- call the police.
If you are sexually assaulted you should get help right away. You can contact the police, a doctor or sexual assault centre. A sexual assault centre can send someone to give you support and information, accompany you to the hospital and help you work through the process of deciding whether to report the incident to the police.
It is important to get medical attention, even if the assault did not involve sexual intercourse. If you decide to seek medical attention or to report the incident to the police, you should not clean yourself, change or throw away your clothes, comb your hair, or take any drugs or alcohol. If you do any of these things it may be harder to gather evidence about the person who attacked you.
Even if you do any of these things you should still seek medical attention and call the police. It is a good idea to write everything you remember down on paper. Your notes may be helpful if you need to give evidence at a later time.
If you were sexually assaulted a long time ago but didn't report it at the time, you may still decide to report it. The police can investigate and determine whether there is enough evidence to lay charges.
Victim Services
Victim Services Programs are available throughout the province. These programs are designed to provide information and support to victims of crime. They also offer assistance and support to victims who are required to testify and can provide a liaison between the victim, the police and the court. They may also be able to provide compensation to victims for some expenses that result from the crime.
The Police can Help
The police can try to help in a number of ways. They can take you to get medical attention, gather evidence and interview possible witnesses.
The police will ask you detailed questions and prepare a statement for you to review and sign. The police will use your statement and other evidence to try to find the person responsible for the assault. If the police are able to locate a suspect, they may ask you to help to identify the suspect. The suspect may be arrested and charged.
The police can also refer you to victim services and other available resources.
The information above has been obtained from the PLEA legal resource entitled Sexual Assault. If you would like further information regarding the legal aspect of reporting this type of offense, click here.
Another very informative resource PLEA has developed is the guide for survivors entitled After Sexual Assault.
For further information on this and other areas of law, contact a library, government agency or PLEA. PLEA is a non-profit, non-government agency that provides a variety of legal information services to the public. If you need legal advice, contact a lawyer.
Public Legal Education Association of Saskatchewan (PLEA)
E-mail: plea@plea.org
Website: http://www.plea.org
To find contact information for the Police-based Victim Services Program that serves your community, click here and locate the name of the police service or RCMP detachment for your area.
Please note that some police jurisdictions do not have access to Police-based Victim Services Programs. If this is the case in your area, you may wish to refer to a nearby program to see if they are able to assist you.
