Foreword

• Author: R. Roy McMurtry/Jim Phillips
• Profession: President/Editor-in-Chief
• Pages: 7-8

FOREWORD

T and powerful book about sexual assault crimes in Ca

nadian history, by Professor Constance Backhouse, whose previous books

for the Osgoode Society have won major awardsUsing a cas estudy ap

proach, Professor Backhouse explores nine sexual as sault trials from across

the country th roughout the twentieth century. We move from small towns

to large cities, from the Maritimes to t he Northwest Territories, from the suf

frageera to the period oft hewomensliberation movementEach chapter

oersinsightintothefailureofthecriminaljusticesystemtoprotectwomen

from sexual assault, and each is high ly readable and provocative. The most

movingch aptersdocume ntthelawsrefus altoaccommod ateawomanwho

could only give evidence in sign language, and the heartbreak of a c hild rape

trialTh isbookisthe bestkindof legalhistoryaviv idexplorationofthe

pastwhichalsog ivesusthetoolstoas sesstheecacyorinthis caselack

ofecacyofthelegalsystem

The purpose of the Osgoode Societ y for Canadian Legal History is to

encourage research and writing on t he history of Canadian law. The Society,

whichwasincorporatedi nandisregistered asachar itywasfounded

attheinitiativeofthe HonourableRRoyMcMurtryformerlyaorneygen

eralfor Ontar ioandch iefjust iceof the province and ocials of the Law

Society of Upper Canada. The Societ y seeks to stimulate the study of legal

history in Canada by supporting re searchers, collecting oral hi stories, and

publishingvolumesthatcontributetolegalhistoricalscholarshipinCanada

It has published seventy books on the courts, the judicia ry, and the legal

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