Sexual Assaults

This section of the website provides answers to many of your questions. Whether you are an adolescent or a woman who has been a victim of sexual assault or not, don’t hesitate to speak with an intervener by dialing 819-563-9999. We will be happy to listen to you, help you, or answer your questions!

 

What is Sexual Assault?

Sexual assault is:

• A sexual act with or without contact.
• Committed by one or more individuals.
• Committed without the consent of the person, often through manipulation or coercion.
• An abuse of power over another person. The perpetrator may use force or threats against the victim.

 

There are several types of sexual assault:

Assault through intoxication: When drugs or alcohol are consumed, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, consent to the sexual act is not free and informed. For example, if you drink alcohol and wish to engage in sexual activity with someone, your consent, according to the law, is not valid. It is also an assault if someone puts something in your drink to prevent you from being fully aware of what is happening.

 

Sexual assault during childhood or adolescence: A person makes sexual gestures on a child’s body or asks the child to do so to them. A person who touches your genitals or asks you to touch theirs is committing a crime.

 

Sexual assault against vulnerable individuals: Because sexual assault is an act of domination or abuse of power, many people with disabilities or intellectual deficiencies are victims of sexual assault. These are people who are dependent on others to function well, and elderly people are also examples.

 

Collective sexual assault: A victim can be assaulted by more than one perpetrator.

 

Multiple sexual assaults: A victim may have suffered various types of sexual assaults over the course of their life or during a single assault situation.

 

Sexual assault by a partner: A gesture or behavior by a boyfriend, girlfriend, or partner that is done against the partner’s will. For example, if your boyfriend or girlfriend wants to have sex with you and you don’t want to, and they persist, this is sexual assault.

 

Obscene calls: Phone calls intended to intimidate or frighten through sexual content.

 

Sexual touching: Touching, directly or indirectly, with a part of one’s body or an object, a part of someone else’s body for sexual purposes. Someone who touches your breasts or genitals against your will with their hands or any object is committing a crime.

 

Sexual exploitation: Pornography or prostitution. If you are asked to do sexual things in exchange for money, privileges, material goods, or protection, that is prostitution.

 

Exhibitionism: A person exposing their genitals in public. Someone who masturbates in front of others in your neighborhood is committing a crime.

 

Frotteurism: Coming from the word “frotter” (to rub). Anyone who rubs on another person’s intimate parts or rubs theirs against someone else. This is often seen in places with large crowds, like the metro, buses, crowded areas, bars, etc.

 

Incitement to sexual contact: Anyone who asks you to touch someone for sexual purposes, for them to touch you, or for you to touch yourself is committing an offense.

 

Incest: The perpetrator is related to the victim by blood or responsibility. A parent, stepparent, adoptive father or mother, relative, or close family friend, etc.

 

Sexual harassment: Any unwanted sexual advance (through words or gestures) that makes the person uncomfortable or uneasy. For example, being whistled at in the street or someone commenting on your body– anything that is said or done that makes you uncomfortable.

 

Child pornography: Watching sexually explicit videos or photos of young people under 18 years old. This includes possessing, producing, or distributing such material.

 

Voyeurism: Spying on a person without their knowledge, hoping to surprise them in their privacy. A person has no right to watch you without your knowledge while you change, shower, or engage in sexual activities.

 

All forms of sexual assault are criminal offenses.

 

What is Consent?

The following information about sexual consent is partially drawn from the website educaloi.qc.ca, which provides all the useful and necessary information about the law in Quebec. If you wish to get more information, visit the website to access all the articles related to sexual consent.

 

What is Sexual Consent?

Sexual consent is the agreement that one person gives to their partner before engaging in a sexual activity.

Consent must:

• Be given voluntarily, meaning it must be a free and informed choice. If the choice is not free and informed, the consent is not valid. Your consent is therefore not valid if you give it because you feel pressured or threatened.
• Be clear. Silence is NOT a form of consent. A person must clearly communicate their agreement to the sexual activity for their consent to be valid. This can be done verbally, through behavior, or both.
• Be given personally by the person participating in the sexual activity. No one else can give your consent for you.
• Not be valid when the person is intoxicated, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, by alcohol, drugs, medications, etc.
• Be continuous and can be revoked at any time. You have the right to set limits on consented intimacy and also have the right to change your mind and end the encounter.
• Be given at the moment of the act. If you give consent in the morning for later that evening, you must give it again that evening. Otherwise, your consent is not valid. You may change your mind during the day, and you have the right to refuse even if you consented in the morning.

 

If a person refuses to participate in a sexual activity and is forced to do so, there is no consent, and it is sexual assault.

 

Particularities of Consent:

• A person is not required to physically resist a sexual activity to conclude that they did not consent.
• A person must be able to express their consent at each stage of the sexual activity. Therefore, before proceeding with any different sexual activity, the partner must first ensure that the other person agrees to go further. You may want to kiss someone but have the right not to want to engage in sexual intercourse with them.
• Consent given by a person is no longer valid once they lose the capacity to consent. For example, consent is no longer valid for sexual acts once the person loses consciousness or becomes heavily intoxicated.
• Once a person expresses refusal, whether verbally or through actions, the partner must immediately stop the sexual activity. If they continue despite the expressed refusal, they are committing sexual assault.

 

Minimum Age for Consent to a Sexual Activity:

In Canada, the minimum age for consenting to a sexual activity is 16 years old.

This does not mean that individuals under 16 cannot engage in sexual activities with each other if both parties agree. There are exceptions, but there are rules to respect.

 

For sexual activities where the younger partner is 12 or 13 years old:

• The partner must be less than 2 years older than the younger person.
• The partner must not be in a position of authority, trust, exploitation, or dependency. (A person in a position of authority includes a teacher, employer, coach, etc.)

For sexual activities where the younger partner is 14 or 15 years old:

• The partner must be less than 5 years older than the younger person.
• The partner must not be in a position of authority, trust, exploitation, or dependency.

 

 

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to call us!

 

Consequences of Sexual Assault

Victims can experience a variety of consequences following a sexual assault:

Possible Psychological Consequences:

• Feeling different, abnormal, crazy, or dirty
• Self-blame, self-hatred, self-doubt
• Distrust, fear, feeling betrayed
• Negative attitudes toward one’s sexuality and body
• Anxiety, distress
• Post-traumatic shock
• Phobias, hypervigilance
• Sadness, despair, depressive state
• Anger, rage
• Guilt/Shame
• Loss of self-esteem
• Suicidal thoughts and attempts
• Confusion about sexual orientation
• Self-destructive behaviors

Possible Physical Consequences:

• Digestive and gastrointestinal issues
• Low body awareness, difficulty loving or inhabiting one’s body
• Physical injuries (fractures, bruises, etc.)
• Sleep disturbances (fatigue, nightmares)
• Migraines, headaches, nausea
• Back pain
• Sexual dysfunctions
• STIs, HIV/AIDS
• Unwanted pregnancy
• Muscle pain

 

Possible Social Consequences:

• Prostitution
• Intense or absent sexual activity
• Fear of being alone
• Loss of the feeling of security
• Isolation
• Loss of autonomy
• Discomfort in social activities
• Change or loss of employment or school
• Loss of trust in others
• Withdrawal from family environment, placement
• Possible Mental Health Consequences:
• Hallucinations (auditory, visual, tactile)
• Confusion
• Memory loss

 

There are many more consequences that can arise, and they are not all listed here. Victims of sexual assault may experience several of these consequences at once, and these are normal reactions. It is the situation—the assault—that is abnormal!