Carnal Crimes: Sexual Assault Law in Canada, 1900-1975
by Constance Backhouse, Professor of Law, University of Ottawa
Published for the Osgoode Society by Irwin Law
Cost: $45.00
Student Price: $20.00
Read review(s)
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Description
An engaging and powerful book about sexual assault crimes in Canadian
history, by Professor Constance Backhouse, whose previous books for
the Osgoode Society have won major awards. Using a case-study
approach, Professor Backhouse explores nine sexual assault trials
from across the country throughout the twentieth century. We move
from small towns to large cities, from the Maritimes to the Northwest
Territories, from the suffrage era to the period of the women's
liberation movement. Each chapter offers insight into the failure of
the criminal justice system to protect women from sexual assault, and
each is highly readable and provocative. The most moving chapters
document the law's refusal to accommodate a woman who could only give
evidence in sign language, and the heartbreak of a child rape trial.
This book is the best kind of legal history - a vivid exploration of
the past which also gives us the tools to assess the efficacy (or in
this case lack of efficacy) of the legal system.
Review
Backhouse has done it again: produced a major work of legal history written and designed to appeal to a broad audience, from Supreme Court justices to readers simply interested in the Canadian criminal justice system's prior ways of dealing with sexual assault.... For anyone wishing to follow the trail t the 1,202 cases she unearthed through her meticulous law report searches and her intensive archival research, Backhouse's personal website provides a full listing. The result is a benchmark resource for further study and analysis.... [And] Backhouse's storytelling skill is the key to her crossover appeal. Carolyn Strange, Canadian Historical Review, vol 90, 2009
Carnal Crimes uses a case study approach to explore the history of sexual assault in Canada .... A key advantage of case studies is that they allow the author to delve deeply into the facts of specific cases, along with the individuals who were central to them....Backhouse's impassioned assessment of some of the women victimized by men and the laws that were meant to shield them from sexual abuse, not vilify them, is a welcome addition to the legal history of sexual assault. Michael Boudreau, Canadian Journal of Law and Society, vol 24, 12009.
