Citation

Schissel B. J. Crim. Justice 1996; 24(2): 123-138.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0047-2352(95)00060-7

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In 1963, Canada reformed its laws regarding rape and sexual assault to facilitate a greater reporting of sexual offenses and a more just approach to prosecution and victim rights. Some of the major changes included a shift in the definition of rape from a crime of sex to a crime of violence, a shift in legal policy to eliminate the victim's reputation as a legal consideration, and the elimination of spousal immunity provisions. In this study, a time-series analysis for the years 1962-1990 is employed to test the influence of Bill C-127 and the influences of macro-economic conditions and social control policy on rates of arrests and charges for sexual assault. These trends are contrasted with those for comparable rates of non-sexual assault. Overall, the results suggest that the influence of this particular law reform, in relation to general legal trends for all violent crimes, is moderate for arrest rates and negligible for rates of charges. The variation in rates of arrests and charges, then, are the result of general trends in state social control policy, and not specific law reform.