The Law and the Language of Rape

Three decades ago rape was taken out of the criminal code and the crime became "sexual assault." We'll hear why one Conservative MP wants rape to be a crime again and three women who disagree with his proposal.According to statistics from the Justice Institute of British Columbia one out of every 17 women in Canada will be raped. If the attackers end up in court, they face charges of sexual assault, not rape.

Conservative MP Rob Anders says that is a problem. Earlier this week, he tabled a private member's bill that would put the word "rape" back into the Canadian criminal code. Rape was removed more than 30 years ago - and replaced with the broader term sexual assault. The move was heralded as a big step forward by victims' advocates, who'd asked for the change. It was part of a series of reforms that, among other things, allowed prosecutors to lay a wider range of charges related to sexual violence. We reached Rob Anders in Ottawa

For their thoughts on the idea of bringing the word rape back into the criminal code, we were joined by three women.

• Jane Doe was raped at knife point in the summer of 1986 and successfully sued the Metro Toronto Police for negligence and gender discrimination in its subsequent investigation. She is now a teacher, a writer and an advocate in this field. We are withholding her real name as per a court order.​
• Pamela Cross is a  Toronto lawyer and feminist who has spent more than 20 years working on violence against women.​
• Kripa Sekhar is the Executive Director of the South Asian Women's Centre in Toronto.  Among other things, she works with victims of sexual assault.
   

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This segment was produced by The Current's Sujata Berry and Sarah Grant