Sexual assault education program being created for Sask. judges, lawyers

Judges, lawyers and other members of the justice system in Saskatchewan soon will be offered education on handling sexual violence complainants.

The province’s Ministry of Justice and Attorney General announced Wednesday that a sexual violence education program is being developed in conjunction with Victim Services and the Law Society of Saskatchewan.

According to a media release, the goal of the program is to ensure “best practices are used when working with sexual violence complainants.”

“We feel that it’s important for people who work in the justice system — whether they be judges, lawyers (or) social workers — to have a better understanding of victims’ rights and the problems that a victim goes through when they come in contact with the justice system,” Don Morgan, the justice minister and attorney general, said following Question Period.

Those in the justice system will attend a one-day course that will offer them education about: Sexual offences in the Criminal Code; available supports for survivors of sexual violence; courtroom tools, such as witness screens; and, trauma and its effects.

The program currently is being developed, with the goal of implementing it in the new year.

NDP Justice Critic Nicole Sarauer supports the idea of the training, but noted she hopes it’s just the first step. The NDP would like to see the government make the program mandatory for all provincially appointed judges.

“Survivors of sexual assault have often said that there is a problem with trust in our judicial system, trust in how that process works,” Sarauer said.

“We’ve seen some high-profile instances of judges not necessarily understanding or saying some things that are contrary to what is now understood of sexual assault survivors. This is an important step forward in re-establishing that trust in the justice system.”

Morgan said a case in Alberta in which a judge asked a sexual assault victim why she didn’t resist by keeping her “knees together” was the kind of situation Saskatchewan is hoping to avoid with the training.

“We think we’ve got a really good calibre of judges in our province,” Morgan said, “but we want to make sure that they’re trained and have an understanding of the sensitivities that a victim is going through.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick