Issue 33.3
Editor: NANCY WRIGHT
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EDITORIAL
By Nancy Wright, Editor
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
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CCJA INTERVIEW with Jo-Anne Wemmers
By Nancy Wright
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Sexual Violence and The Criminal Justice System
Post-#MeToo: Towards Reform?
By François Boillat-Madfouny
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Prostitution in Canada
By Natalie Snow
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The Colour of Justice – Victimology: A Canadian Perspective
by Professor Jo-Anne Wemmers
By Margot Van Sluytman
YOUNG RESEARCHER CONTRIBUTIONS
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A Critical Look at the 2014 Protection of Communities
and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA)
By Sarah Harrison
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Sexual Harassment in Female Institutions
By Farina Chaudhry and Joël Roy Sévigny
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Abstracts
CCJA INTERVIEW WITH JO-ANNE WEMMERS, CRIMINOLOGIST/VICTIMOLOGIST, PROFESSOR JO-ANNE WEMMERS (UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTRÉAL).
Nancy Wright
This is a bilingual interview with no summary. Read the interview at www.justicereport.ca.
SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, POST-#METOO: TOWARDS REFORM?
Francois Boillat-Madfouny, CCJA PRC Member, Graduate Student
On April 13th, 2018, the Graduate Student Association of the Faculté de droit [law faculty] de l’Université de Montréal organised a panel discussion following up the #MeToo movement that popularized on traditional and social media in fall 2017. The strength and popularity of the movement indeed raise many questions as to the prevalence of sexual violence in society and the State’s ability to adequately curb it. Academics and practitioners were invited to give their impressions on this issue and on the appropriateness of reforming the legal rules that regulate sexual violence offenses. This article briefly summarizes the essence of what was said during the panel discussion.
PROSTITUTION IN CANADA
Nathalie Snow, B.A. (Humber College) M.Sc. (Niagara) and former High-Risk Program Support Counsellor at Victim Services of Peel (ON) and current doctoral student at University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA.
Natalie Snow reviews the current socio-legal landscape on prostitution, especially as regards recent legislative changes relating to prostitution in Canada and the Supreme Court ruling that led to the reforms. Examining the morality-based opposition to prostitution and reviewing a current argument for recognizing sex work as a form of labour, Snow offers insight into the age-old issue of prostitution, which is increasingly being seen as a ‘victim’ crime.
THE COLOUR OF JUSTICE – VICTIMOLOGY: A CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE
Margot Van Sluytman
The Sawbonna Project
In this article/review, Margot Van Sluytman discusses Jo-Anne Wemmers’ 2017 book, Victimology: A Canadian Perspective, as a user-friendly Apps for navigating what she terms a changing justice terrain, pointing out that each chapter is a precious and provocative piece that can prove a rich guide for first-time readers and seasoned researchers in the field of victimology. Van Sluytman here also ponders a perceived use of “restorative justice’’ as a catch-all term for alternative victim-centred theories, noting that a restrictive language framework can sometimes help maintain the status quo. Holding up Jo-Anne Wemmers’ “reparative justice” as an example, Van Sluytman stands resoundingly in favour of restorative models through which victim rights are not only clearly identifiable, but also enforceable.
A CRITICAL LOOK AT THE 2014 PROTECTION OF COMMUNITIES AND EXPLOITED PERSONS ACT (PCEPA)
Sarah Harrison
Undergraduate, Faculty of Arts: Criminology, Carleton University
CCJA Policy Review Committee Intern
CCJA PRC intern Sarah Harrison reports on the 2014 enactment of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA) as a law founded on the idea that sex workers are all victims and that all ‘johns’ are the real criminals from whom they need to be protected. It thus supports the theory that sex work is inherently exploitive. Harrison points out that the goals of PCEPA were clear but critiques by lawyers and academics were largely ignored and the opposition of sex workers entirely dismissed. Harrison fast forwards to 2018 to explore whether the new law might magnify harms faced by sex workers.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN FEMALE INSTITUTIONSIN FEMALE INSTITUTIONS
Farina Chaudry, Honour’s Bachelor of Social Sciences (Crim Major/Law Minor), University of Ottawa
Joel Roy Sevigny, Honour’s Bachelor of Social Sciences/Crim Major, University of Ottawa
In this article, University of Ottawa undergraduates Farina Chaudhry and Joël Roy Sévigny report on the needs of female offenders within a framework of a male-centric prison system, noting that a perceived devaluation of female offenders also comes at the price of a corresponding lack of research on women in correctional institutions. Female inmates are not the only ones to pay the price for Canada’s ill-fitting prisons for women, report the authors, female prison guards are also at risk of assault and exploitation, whether by inmates or correctional staff.
Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the Association’s views, but are included to encourage reflection and action on the criminal justice system throughout Canada.