Towards a Better Understanding of the Client

• Author: Nathalie Des Rosiers; Louise Langevin
• Pages: 3-32

Chapter

1

Towards

a

Better

Understanding

of

the

Client

2.

Framework

-

Sexual

and

spousal

abuse

are

significant

social

problems.

In a

1993 statistical

survey

on the

issue

of

violence

against

women

that

continues

to be

cited

as the

most

complete

in its

field,3

Statistics

Canada

concluded

that

51 per

cent

of

women

had

experienced

at

least

one

incident

of

physical

or

sexual abuse

after

the age of

sixteen. Other statistics relating

to the

rate

of

sexual

abuse

of

children

indicate

that

one out of

every

two

girls

and one out

of

every

three

boys

have

had

unwanted

sexual

contact.4

Many

ana-

3.

See

Holly Johnson

and

Vincent

F.

Sacco, "Researching Violence

against

Women:

Statistics

Canada's National Survey," (1995)

37

Canadian Journal

of

Criminology

281 at

293.

See

Julian

V.

Roberts, "Sexual Assault

in

Canada:

Recent

Statistical

Trends," (1996)

21

Queen's

L. J. 395 at

399. There appears

to be a gap

between disclosure

of

abuse

to

public

authorities

and its

prevalence

in

society:

for a

discussion

on

this

point,

see

Jacqueline

Oxman-Martinez,

William

S.

Rowe,

Silvia

Straka,

and

Yves

Thibault,

"La

baisse

de

1'incidence

et

le

devoilement

tardif

dans

les

cas

d'enfants victimes d'abus

sexuels,"

(1997)

18

Revue

quebecoise

de

psychologie

77 at 79.

4. See

Report

of

the

Committee

on

Sexual

Offences

against Children

and

Youths

(Ottawa:

Justice

Canada, 1984)

at

175—6

(hereinafter

Badgley

Report),

cited

by

Nicholas

Bala,

"False

Memory

'Syndrome':

Backlash

or

Bona Fide

Defence?"

(1996)

21

Queen's

L. J. 423 at

427; Yves-Hiram

L.

Haesevoets,

L'enfant

victime

d'inceste:

de la

seduction

traumatique

a la

violence

sexuelle

(Paris

and

Brussels: DeBoeck

Universite,

1997)

at 22;

Peter

G.

Jaffe,

Nancy

K.D.

Lemon,

Jack

Sander,

and

David

Wolfe,

Working

Together

to End

Domestic

Violence

(Tampa,

FL:

Mancorp Publishing, 1996)

at 23.

However,

there

is

uncertainty

as to the

exact calculation

of the

rate

of

sexual abuse

of

children.

See

Oxman-Martinez

et

al.,

note

3

above, which refers

to a

study

by

David

Finkelhor,

"Epidemiological

Factors

in the

Clinical Identification

of

Child Sexual Abuse," (1993)

18

Child Abuse

and

Neglect

409.

Finkelhor

claims

that

rates

vary according

to the

quality

of the

study (i.e.,

the

better

the

study,

the

higher

the

rate).

He

concludes

that

one in

four

adult women

and one in ten

adult

men

were abused

as

children. There

is a

recent

decline

in the

number

of

cases disclosed

to the

authorities:

David Finkelhor

and T.

Felix, "Decline

in

Sexual Abuse Cases," paper presented

at the 5th

International

Family

Violence

Research Conference (1997), quoted

by

Oxman-Martinez

et

al.,

above,

note

3.

3

4 THE

CLIENT

lysts

have considered

the

sources

of

sexual

and

spousal abuse,

the

effects

of

this

abuse,

and the

means

to

stop

it.5

Our

approach

is

intended

to

provide

a

brief introduction

to

this

important knowl-

edge.

We

have attempted

to

summarize some

of

the

current debates

within

the

fields

under consideration

and

have provided readers

with other bibliographical sources.

In

order

to

provide

attorneys

with

a

context

for the

approach they should adopt,

we

begin with

an

examination

of the

problem

of

sexual abuse

and

then

focus

on

spousal abuse.

I.

THE

PROBLEM

OF

SEXUAL ABUSE

3.

Definition

of

Sexual Abuse

- We

define sexual abuse

as

unwanted

touching

of a

sexual nature. With adults,

the

absence

of

consent

to

the

touching

is an

essential

element. With children,

the

question

of

consent must take into account

the

potential

for the

adult

to

exploit

his

relationship

of

power over

the

child.

In

general,

we

assume

that

a

child under fourteen years

of age

cannot give valid consent

to

sex-

ual

touching.6

As for a

child over

the age of

fourteen,

the

validity

of

the

child's

consent must

be

analysed

in

light

of the

relationship

of

power

between

the

child

and the

aggressor.

Our

examination will

address

the

issue

of the

sexual abuse

of

children both within

and

outside

the

family.

We

will also touch upon

the

topics

of

sexual

abuse perpetrated against adolescents

and

adults.

4. The

Feminization

of

the

Problem

—

Sexual abuse

is

perpetrated

against

men as

well

as

women. However,

the

majority

of

sexual

abuse

is

directed towards

women.7

Although child sexual abuse

affects

many young boys,

the

majority

of

victims

are

young

girls.8

5.

See, among

others,

Haesevoets, above, note

4;

Hubert

Van

Gijseghem, ed.,

L'enfant

mis a

nu.

L'allegation

d'abus

sexuel:

La

recherche

de

la

verite

(Montreal:

Meridien,

1992);

Jaffe

et

al.,

above,

note

4;

Donald

G.

Button,

The

Domestic

Assault

of

Women.

Psychological

and

Criminal Justice

Perspectives

(Vancouver:

UBC

Press,

1995);

Judith

Lewis

Herman,

Trauma

and

Recovery

(New

York: Basic Books, 1992); Murray

A.

Straus

and

Richard Gelles,

"Determinants

of

Violence

in the

Family: Toward

a

Theoretical

Integration,"

in

Wesley

R.

Burr, Rueben Hill,

E.

Ivan Nye,

and Ira L.

Reiss, eds.,

Contemporary

Theoriries

about

the

Family: Research-Based Theories, vol.

1

(New

York: Free

Press,

1979)

at

549;

Kersti

Yllo,

"The

Status

of

Women,

Marital

Equality,

and

Violence

against

Wives,"

(1984)

5

Journal

of

Family

Issues

307.

6.

See

below

at

§160.

7.

See

Jaffe

et

al.,

above, note

4 at 20;

Haesevoets, above, note

4 at 22.

8.

Ibid.