Women are more likely to be sexually assaulted during their lifetime than to earn a university degree or be paid the same as their male counterparts.
That was just one insight shared by Schulich School of Law Professor Elaine Craig last week (Sept. 6) before a full house at the Halifax Central LIbrary鈥檚 Paul O鈥橰egan Hall.
Prof. Craig was there to discuss her new book, , published earlier this year by McGill-Queen鈥檚 University Press.
鈥淭he criminal justice system, warts and all, remains the single most significant societal response to the social problem of harmful sexual behaviour,鈥� said Prof. Craig.
聽She pointed out that during sexual assault trials, the complainants are asked to remember and be able to share the intimate details of their personal lives and trauma 鈥斅爊ot just once, but over and over again, in public, with people they don鈥檛 know. These women are required to testify for hours, often over several days, in an unfamiliar setting.
鈥淢ost painfully, we require them to expose themselves, to be vulnerable, in ways too profound to even capture with words,鈥� said Prof. Craig.
As a profession... too often we are failing in our duty to show sexual assault complainants respect, and we are failing in our duty to protect them from discrimination and abuse. 鈥� Professor Elaine Craig
The women often take the witness stand without being properly prepared. It鈥檚 the failure to consistently prepare, protect and accommodate sexual assault complainants that Prof. Craig addressed in her book, the result of six years of research.
鈥淎s a profession 鈥� as criminal defenders, Crown attorneys, judges, law professors, and law society regulators 鈥� I would suggest that too often we are failing in our duty to show sexual assault complainants respect, we are failing in our duty to protect them from discrimination and abuse, and we are doing so unnecessarily,鈥� said Prof. Craig.
Putting Trials on Trial provides suggestions to make the criminal trial process less traumatic for complainants without threatening the rights of the accused.
鈥淭he recommendations to reduce the trauma of the trial for sexual assault complainants that I identify in this book are achievable,鈥� Prof. Craig told the audience, 鈥渁nd neither the constitution nor our adversarial model of justice create obstacles to making them happen.鈥�
Putting Trials on Trial can be ordered from .