In society today, crime is an inevitable and widespread occurrence. It appears in the newspapers, on the television, in magazines and on the Internet. Crimes such as rape and sexual assault are so common these days that at least 1 in every 17 women are raped in Canada during some point in their lifetime and most commonly occurs amongst women ages 15 to 24. (AssaultCare.ca) Approximately 62% of all rape victims are physically injured during the attack, which was no exception in the case of R. v. Lamy. The complainant, a 20-year-old woman, met her attacker in a bar and after he had offered to drive her to meet up with her friends, while stopping briefly at the respondent's house, he began to sexually assault her against her protestations and raped her. Due to the fact that the respondent sexually assaulted her violently, through his own penetration and using an instrument, he thus left her with many psychological scars and physical injuries.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month display
A sexual assault awareness poster.
sexual assault awareness month display (front)After much deliberation, the court established that the respondent's crime was one of sexual assault with a weapon, as the instrument used did damage and caused bleeding and bruising regardless of his intentions. Based on this case, I feel that all rape or sexual assault offenders should be punished as if it were sexual assault with a weapon, and their sentencing should reflect this accordingly because, aside from the fact that in most cases there is severe physical damage, there is also severe physiological damage to the victim.
In the case of R.v. Lamy, the court chose to prove the respondent guilty by analyzing the words "weapon" and the word "injury". After further assessment they came to the conclusion that a weapon constitutes "anything used, designed to be used or intended for use of (a) causing death or...