Watching the Michael Coren show tonight I saw a guest make the suggestion that about 2 in a hundred sexual assault charges result in a conviction (note, this was not 2 in a hundred assaults result in conviction -- it was said 2 in a hundred charges succeed).
These numbers seemed silly so I looked up the actual figures and was surprised to see how few charges do succeed. It's not two per cent but it's strikingly low.
According to Statistics Canada, just under 4 in 10 cases of sexual assault and sexual offences that came before adult courts in result in a conviction. So the conviction rate is twenty times higher than the guest on Coren suggested -- but to see a 40 % conviction rate is not very encouraging -- either charges are overlaid or the guilty are walking free.
Attempted murder and homicide are the only violent offences in adult court with a lower conviction rate than sexual offences.
About 6 in 10 of those convicted of sexual assault or other sexual offences in adult court were sentenced to a period of incarceration. This is similar to the percentage receiving prison terms for major assault but lower than that for homicide, attempted murder and robbery.
Perhaps these figures reflect charges being prosecuted that should not have gone ahead, perhaps they reflect a bias in the system (about 86% of complainants in sexual assault cases are women), perhaps they reflect something else.
Whatever they reflect they are surprising to me.
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This is indeed surprising and also concerns me. It seems to me that it's hard enough for victims of sexual assault to speak up and get charges lain in the first place. But to go through all that, then have a less than 50/50 shot at a successful conviction of your assailant is disheartening.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes it all the more disturbing is that only 6-12% of sexual assaults are reported to the police.
ReplyDeleteI just reported my stepfather for sexually abusing my between the ages of 8 and 17. I went in knowing that only 40% of reports end up in charges (mine are). I went in knowing that only about 40% of charges end up in a conviction.
It took me 20 years to get up the nerve and the strength to report - knowing how stacked this was against me. I knew that I would very likely be reliving this, facing cross examination in a court and needing to face this monster in a court room, in a futile attempt to reclaim my life and save his grandchildren from the same abuse.
Until victims feel safer coming forward the reporting rate will remain shockingly low. Pedophiles like my stepfather will continue to feel above the law.
Oh and in Nova Scotia the rate for charges and conviction are significantly lower than in the rest of the country.
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ReplyDeleteI think it has a lot to do with "proving" that the interaction was nonconsensual. You may be able to prove that sexual contact occurred, but in the vast majority of cases-- even cases where physical harm to the victim is documented--it's very difficult to prove the interaction wasn't consensual. I like the more progressive definitions of consent that require proving consent occurred, rather than the other way around. Much of the rest of the time it turns into "he said, she said" about what the victim wanted at the time. Obviously only the victim knows what they wanted/ didn't want. But usually juries/ audiences in general want a "good victim" and an "obvious" rapist. In other words, the rapist should be male, should be a stranger (the vast majority--over 90%-- of offenders aren't) and the victim should be female, a virgin, nondrinker, etc. etc. and she should have fought back, and she should have physical signs of trauma, and she should handle her trauma in a predictable way. And he should have a sleazy mustache and sordid past. He should definitely not be a charismatic person who plays on the compassion of juries/ victims. He should not be an ex-lover of hers, or someone she has kids with, or her husband. And so you see that most people who rape don't fit that profile, while most people who are raped don't fit that profile, and it's hard to prove even in the "best" cases that she didn't want it, unless you trust her word and her judgment.
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