Sexual assault survivors calling on Ontario to lift policy that limits access to community justice programs

Marlee Liss inactive remembers however dehumanizing it felt to beryllium done the preliminary proceedings of the antheral accused of sexually assaulting her, disturbed by however she was treated portion testifying, arsenic she answered a bid of invasive questions. 

It took 3 years for the Toronto woman's lawsuit to marque it to trial. The full time, she said, she didn't needfully privation her alleged assailant to spell to jailhouse — she conscionable wanted him to instrumentality accountability. 

Thanks to a referral from her Crown attorney, the lawsuit was enactment connected intermission successful 2019 truthful that Liss could prosecute a assemblage justness program, besides known arsenic restorative justice. There, she got to perceive her alleged assailant instrumentality accountability successful a backstage room, apologizing to her directly. He besides underwent months of therapy.

Liss said the authoritative agreeing to resoluteness the lawsuit extracurricular the daunting courtroom was the astir healing infinitesimal successful the full process. 

"It was the archetypal clip idiosyncratic was yet saying … 'Your dependable matters, what you request matters, your boundaries matter, your healing matters. Let's enactment according to what you need,'" said Liss, who is the laminitis of the planetary advocacy group, Survivors 4 Justice Reform. 

Because the lawsuit was diverted from the tribunal system, Liss's alleged assailant did not person a transgression conviction, but by the clip the assemblage justness programme was complete, Liss said she was assured helium wouldn't re-offend.

Liss's acquisition is rare. In Ontario, intersexual offences are among a database of superior offences deemed ineligible for referral to assemblage justness programs by Crown prosecutors. According to a 2023 study from the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), the Crown lawyer for Liss's lawsuit was aboriginal formally disciplined for her actions.

Survivors 4 Justice Reform is calling connected the state to scrap that policy. The radical has written an unfastened missive to the Ministry of the Attorney General, co-signed by 50 individuals and organizations that enactment with and advocator for intersexual battle survivors.

"Denying survivors this enactment perpetuates a one-size-fits-all attack that fails to conscionable the analyzable realities of intersexual violence," says the letter, shared publically connected Monday.

A spokesperson for the minister of the Attorney General declined to comment, having not yet seen the letter. Charlotte Carron past declined to reply questions from CBC astir the argumentation of not referring intersexual battle cases to assemblage justness programs and whether that mightiness beryllium changed successful the future. "It would not beryllium due to remark connected this taxable without seeing the letter," she said via email.

Restorative justness tin instrumentality antithetic forms, including therapy, healing circles rooted successful Indigenous practices, rehab programs oregon unpaid work. People accused of crimes person to presume work for their actions and beryllium consenting to marque "meaningful amends" to participate, according to the province's Crown Prosecution Manual. 

"The thought that restorative justness could beryllium a happening that lets perpetrators disconnected the hook — I deliberation we person to commencement by recognizing perpetrators are not connected the hook close present with the transgression ineligible system," said Liss. 

Survivors don't know it's an option 

Right now, assemblage justness programs are disposable successful Ontario to intersexual battle survivors who haven't reported their lawsuit to police. But galore don't cognize that's an option, Liss said. She says people's archetypal instinct is to telephone the police, and erstwhile a lawsuit is successful the ineligible strategy it's excessively late.

"We truly privation it to beryllium imaginable for radical who are already going done the transgression ineligible strategy to beryllium capable to alteration their caput … that's what consent is," Liss said. 

Emily Quint says she wishes she'd known astir restorative justness arsenic the intersexual battle lawsuit against her alleged assailant was going done the ineligible system. 

The charges were yet stayed because of an unreasonable hold successful 2023. Hers was 1 of 59 intersexual battle cases that twelvemonth successful Ontario which were stayed owed to delays, according to information from from the Ministry of the Attorney General. 

"I was re-traumatized, re-victimized, conscionable treated similar I was perfectly nothing," she said.

WATCH  | Emily Quint's lawsuit tossed implicit tribunal delays: 

While she understands wherefore galore survivors privation to spot their assailants punished, Quint says it was ne'er astir that for her.

"I wanted to basal up and say, 'this is what happened to maine and it wasn't OK,'" she said. " I wanted healing for myself, healing for him, counseling for myself, counseling for him."

Lack of entree is different barrier

Lawyer Deepa Mattoo said she's seen galore survivors similar seeking justness extracurricular the tribunal successful her clip arsenic manager of the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic, which supports survivors of gender-based violence. She says they would spell to the Human Rights Tribunal oregon the now-defunct Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. 

Mattoo agrees survivors should person greater choice, but says the session tends not to notation them to restorative justness programs due to the fact that of debased availability for those services passim the province.

"Those options request to beryllium designed and disposable successful [the] assemblage for radical to beryllium referred retired to," Mattoo said.

The argumentation barring prosecutors from referring intersexual battle survivors to these programs is simply a large crushed that programs are under-resourced, according to Rosel Kim, a elder unit lawyer astatine LEAF, 1 of the organizations that co-signed the unfastened letter. 

Not lone should the state unbend its policy, Kim says, but it should besides summation the backing for the programs arsenic well.  

"If you conscionable benignant of assistance the moratorium, but they don't supply options, that's not meaningful either," Kim said.