The examination for discovery in cases of sexual violation : a discourse analysis
| dc.contributor.author | Oram, Cheryl MacKinnon | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-08-15T16:36:58Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-08-15T16:36:58Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 2002 | en_US |
| dc.date.issued | 2002 | |
| dc.degree.department | School of Social Work | |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Social Work M.S.W. | en |
| dc.description.abstract | This quotation illustrates the spirit in which this analysis has been conducted: "Look for the deepest meanings in the least elevated places. Be more radical than anyone has ever been about the unknown, because what has never been asked is probably what we most need to know. (Catherine MacKinnon, Feminism 9)" There are very few rules governing the discovery process in cases of sexual violation in Canada. Coincidentally, there has been very little research conducted on the discovery process in Canada (Pirie, 2001, This is supported by Lessard, 2002, and Perks, 2002). I question why, in the legal system which is a rule making body, there is an absence of rules governing the discovery process in cases of sexual violation. I also question why there has been very little research conducted on the discovery process when it is a powerful step in the legal process that has the potential to influence outcomes in legal cases, as well as the power to intimidate litigants and/or their lawyers into abandoning their cases. I question who benefits from a lack of specific rules regulating the discovery process, who benefits from the blocking of research about the discovery, and the lack of public critique and debate. I also question whether women have wanted to publish their experience in the discovery, or if they have been blocked from doing so. I am not suggesting the usual blocks women experience, such as lack of access to resources and opportunities. I am suggesting a block in regard to what Michel Foucault describes as "the intersection of the excess of armed justice and the anger of the threatened and Perks, 2002. people," (Discipline, 73). Bureaucratic repetition and the institutional perpetuation of the law's power blocks women from telling the stories of their experiences. The blocks may not recognizable by any one named power, but they exist nonetheless. I encountered several challenges while attempting to publish my experience of the discovery. These are discussed in the final chapter. My research into law, feminist law and psychology indicates that although thousands of women are sexually violated in Canada each year, very few of these women file reports with authorities or pursue recourse through the justice system. The primary reason found for these profoundly small numbers, concerns women's perceptions of the way they are treated by the justice system. In one study by the Solicitor General of Canada ("Canadian Urban Victimization Survey," Bulletin 4: Female Victims of Crime, Ottawa, 1985) women gave the following reasons for not reporting incidents of sexual assault: 50% of sexually violated women believed that the police could do nothing about it. 44% were concerned about the attitude of both police and the courts towards sexual assault. 33% were afraid of another assault by the offender, and 64% reported fear and shame prevented them from reporting. In conclusion the report stated, 'Women who have been sexually assaulted often fear that if they report a sexual assault they will be re-victimized by the justice system." (15) In another study of women who did report sexual violation, "seventy-three per cent of civil litigants indicated that they had great difficulty with their hearing; both the pre-trial discovery process and the trial" (Feldhusen, et. al. 83). What transpires in a discovery process remains virtually unknown to the public. In a case of sexual violation, only the lawyers involved and the woman who is questioned in the discovery are privy to .the events. This research is about my experience in a discovery process, in a case of sexual violation. The sexual violation and the legal action that followed, including the discovery process that this research is based upon, occurred in Canada during the past 10 years. All names, dates and places have been removed for protection of the parties involved. Any resemblance to known events is purely coincidental. The opinions included in this research, unless cited as a reference, are strictly those of the researcher. | |
| dc.format.extent | 155 pages | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1828/19186 | |
| dc.rights | Available to the World Wide Web | en_US |
| dc.title | The examination for discovery in cases of sexual violation : a discourse analysis | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
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