Sexual assault victims fight a losing battle

If you live in Canada and you've reported a sexual assault, your odds of receiving justice through our court system are a staggering less than half a percent, and a recent court case attests to this.

In August, CBC News reported that the Supreme Court of Canada will not hear an appeal of the case of Marlin Vandermeulen, whose 2013 rare conviction for sexual assault was dismissed due to lengthy delays in the court process.

Due to what can only be described as a lapse of administrative judgment, Vandermeulen's charter rights were violated by lengthy court delays, and an appeal of the dismissal of his conviction will not be granted.

This follows Section 11(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states, "Any person charged with an offence has the right to be tried within a reasonable time," with the definition of "reasonable" being left to the discretion of those who uphold the law.

Vandermeulen's Charter rights were violated, in that 37 months was determined to be an unreasonable amount of time between the original charges and the final sentencing.

As a result, a rare conviction of sexual assault will disappear. By contrast, consider Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states, "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice," with "fundamental justice" being a concept that has never been clearly defined.

It's saddening to know that in 2016, less than a the year after our prime minister appointed Canada's first gender-balanced cabinet, a female survivor of sexual assault will still not receive criminal justice, and her Charter rights will be deemed a lesser priority than those of her assailant.

Survivors experience physical, mental symptoms

The survivor of sexual assault, Vandermeulen's former girlfriend, feared for her life. Not only was her bodily autonomy stolen from her, she also endured physical injuries, including internal bleeding and swelling.

Whether the survivor has struggled mentally since the attack has not been reported, but sexual assault survivors can expect to deal with a host of mental and physical struggles following an assault, including but not limited to: chronic pain, gastrointestinal disorders, shock, post-traumatic stress disorder, confusion and distrust of others.

Sexual assault survivor Emily Peters spoke about her own experiences after she was raped.

"Initially, it was the typical nightmares, flashbacks and feeling constantly triggered or reminded of the rape. I couldn't keep a job or attend school. I was completely numb to everything; there was only darkness. I attempted suicide multiple times. Gradually, I became a shell of who I had been."

Though Peters said her PTSD is no longer as all-consuming as it once was, years later she still feels constantly on high alert, having disproportional adrenaline responses to panic or stress, not to mention rarely feeling safe around men.

Knowing the lifetime harrowing effects of sexual assault, it's clear that in the end, Vandermeulen's constitutional rights were deemed more important than those of the survivor.

Fight for survivors' rights still a losing battle

As it stands, sexual assault survivors are fighting a losing battle. It's next to impossible to get a conviction in a sexual assault case in Canada.

According to Statistics Canada, in the year 2009, women reported 472,000 sexual assaults and men reported 204,000. Subsequently, from 2009 to 2010, 4,092 sexual assault cases went to trial.

Of that number, only 1,751 cases received a guilty verdict. In these numbers, we can see that only 0.6 per cent of sexual assault reports moved forward to trial, and only 0.2 per cent of reported sexual assaults arrived at a guilty verdict in court.

Considering a large number of sexual assaults go unreported, these conviction rates are incredibly disheartening for women considering whether to report.

What's the point of going through the re-victimization of the court process if the most likely outcome (by a huge margin) will be that the assailant walks free? We need to work towards a system in which sexual assault survivors actually have a chance of receiving criminal justice.

Women's bodily autonomy, safety and mental health are worth far more than 0.2 per cent.

Sam MacKinnon is a Winnipeg writer and feminist advocate.