To the court, 'a person with a vagina' is an acceptable replacement for 'a woman'

The Supreme Court of Canada has swapped gender identity for biological sex. To add to the shock, in a ruling earlier this month, the court did so during a brief aside that was unrelated to its reasoning or decision. However unnecessary, this intervention is now a part of Canadian case law.

The appeal before the court in R v Kruk was simple. Christopher James Kruk had been found guilty of rape at trial. The trial judge in his case wrote, “(The complainant’s) evidence is devoid of detail, yet she claims to be certain that she was not mistaken. She said she felt (Mr. Kruk’s) penis inside her and she knew what she was feeling. In short, her tactile sense was engaged. It is extremely unlikely that a woman would be mistaken about that feeling.”

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Don't have an account? Create Account

Kruk’s lawyers appealed, arguing that individual cases shouldn’t be decided based on general beliefs, such as the belief that women will generally know when they are experiencing penile penetration. (Ironically, in sexual assault cases, a similar rule has usually been applied to prevent the use of rape myths to discredit victims.) The B.C. Court of Appeal accepted this argument and overthrew the conviction.

The Crown then took the case up to the Supreme Court, whose sole job was to determine if the courts below had erred in law. Defence argued that the trial judge “was not entitled to reach outside of the evidence and rely without notice on his ‘common sense’ as to what a woman would necessarily feel.” The court, however,........

© National Post