Myths and Stereotypes about Sexual Assault Victims: Expected Conduct
There is no rule as to how victims of sexual assault are apt to behave. A trial judge makes a fatal error in reasoning when that judge bases findings of credibility on assumptions that are unsupported by the evidence. It is an error of law to rely on pre-conceived views about how a sexual assault victim would behave. R. v. D.D., 2000 SCC 43 (CanLII), [2000] 2 S.C.R. 275 at para. 65; R. v. A.R.J.D., 2018 SCC 6 (CanLII) , [2018] 1 S.C.R. 218, at para. 2. Although trial judges must exercise common sense when making credibility findings and resolving what actually happened in a case, relying upon assumptions about what women will and will not do may impact a judge’s objective deliberation of the reasonable doubt standard. R. v. J.L. , 2018 ONCA 756 (CanLII), at para. 47: where the trial judge improperly relied on a behavioural assumption in assessing credibility, viz: "I cannot accept that a young woman...