{"id":267867,"date":"2020-01-31T11:30:05","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T16:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T22:49:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T02:49:01","slug":"the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/","title":{"rendered":"The misogyny of the so-called \u201crough sex\u201d defence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note to readers: This article contains graphic descriptions that some may find disturbing.<\/em><\/p>\n

What do Joshua Boyle<\/a>, Jian Ghomeshi and Bradley Barton<\/a> have in common? They all claimed \u201cconsent to rough sex,\u201d Ghomeshi on his Facebook page<\/a> and the others in response to criminal charges of assault, sexual assault and, in the case of Barton, murder. All three men were acquitted, Ghomeshi and Boyle because the trial judge doubted the complainants\u2019 credibility and Barton because jurors had a doubt about consent.<\/p>\n

Should Canadian criminal law recognize a defence of consent to sexual practices that cause bodily harm? Strangulation involves the deprivation of oxygen to the brain, inevitably causing loss of brain cells and risking brain damage. Punching another in the face can fracture delicate facial bones or teeth and cause brain injury<\/a>. Inserting a fist or sharp object in another\u2019s body cavity can result in tearing, bleeding and internal damage. All of these activities present risks that can \u2014 and sometimes do \u2014 culminate in death.<\/p>\n

Those who practise sado-masochism argue that such activities are private matters best left to the autonomous decisions of individual adults. In this liberal view, sexual freedom, exploration and expression should not be regulated by the state. They assert that criminalizing the actions of consenting adults risks disproportionately penalizing sexual minorities like themselves. Rarely, however, do we see criminal cases where the parties agree that they engaged in consensual \u201crough sex\u201d but that one of them accidentally was injured. To the contrary, women usually report not consenting to the violence inflicted on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cRough sex\u201d depicted in pornography and in practice is marked by gender asymmetry. It is overwhelmingly women who are on the receiving end of this violence and whose health and very lives are on the line.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And let\u2019s be clear: the so-called \u201crough sex\u201d defence is not gender neutral. The sex is \u201crough\u201d for women, not men. \u201cRough sex\u201d depicted in pornography and in practice is marked by gender asymmetry. It is overwhelmingly women who are on the receiving end of this violence and whose health and very lives are on the line. For example, women are two to four times more<\/a> likely than men to report having experienced strangulation, a powerful predictor of intimate femicide<\/a>. Yet with the cultural scripts provided by pornography, aided by liberal feminism\u2019s championing of \u201csex positivity,\u201d judges and juries can conclude that injuries, and even death, are simply accidental by-products of violent, but consensual, sex.<\/p>\n

The \u201crough sex\u201d defence has devastating consequences for women as complainants in sexual assault trials. If the complainant had a previous sexual relationship with the accused, he will inevitably argue that the couple engaged in violent sex in the past, as both Boyle and Barton did, potentially opening the door to the complainant being cross-examined on her past sexual activity, with the accused or with others. While this evidence is supposedly not relevant to a complainant\u2019s credibility, it functions to undermine her assertion that she did not consent to violence. Even when a consent defence is not itself the key to acquittal, there is no doubt that evidence that a complainant had previously engaged in sexual practices that risked her health and safety, or had even contemplated them, prejudices judges and jurors against her and damages her credibility indelibly. She is seen as \u201cup for anything\u201d and presumed to be consenting.<\/p>\n

When a woman dies from her injuries, she has no voice to assert she did not consent to violence. Instead, an accused can testify that she consented to and, in fact, enjoyed the violence. If money is promised in exchange for sex, powerful stereotypes about women in the sex trade consenting to anything and everything infect the trial. Such was the case in the murder trial of Bradley Barton, who caused an 11-cm tear in the vaginal wall of Cindy Gladue, an Indigenous woman. The prosecutor alleged that Barton used a knife or other sharp object to cause the fatal wounds. Barton countered that he had instead thrust his entire fist into her vagina for at least 10 minutes, describing the encounter as consensual despite Gladue\u2019s level of intoxication. The acquittal could only mean that the jury had a reasonable doubt about whether Gladue consented to this violence.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
AP Photo\/Mark Baker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

People lay flowers and light candles during a candlelight vigil for murdered British tourist Grace Millane at Cathedral Square in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Dec. 12, 2018. (AP Photo\/Mark Baker)<\/p>\n

The recent murder of 22-year-old Grace Millane<\/a> in New Zealand was committed by a man who strangled her for what experts say must have been 5 to 10 minutes. After she died, he took photographs of her corpse, watched pornography, stuffed her body into a suitcase and left it in the woods. We never heard Millane\u2019s story except through attempts to tarnish her reputation by the introduction of sexual history evidence portraying her as someone who relished violent encounters.<\/p>\n

In Britain, John Broadhurst<\/a> left his partner to bleed to death at the bottom of the stairs. His guilty plea to negligent manslaughter was based not on the 40 horrific injuries that he inflicted on Natalie Connelly during sex, but rather on his failure to seek medical treatment as she lay dying. Connelly, like Gladue and Millane, was repeatedly depicted as responsible for her own death because of her purported enjoyment of \u201crough sex.\u201d<\/p>\n

The campaign We Can\u2019t Consent to This<\/a> has documented 52 homicides in the UK where men who have killed women claimed that the deceased consented to \u201ca sex game gone wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two-thirds of these victims died by strangulation<\/a>. Most of the men were ultimately convicted of murder, but 14 were convicted of the lesser crime of manslaughter and another 5 were either acquitted or had charges dropped. Of course, these numbers do not include the far more numerous cases of sexual assault involving strangulation in which the victim did not die.<\/p>\n

Why are we seeing the emergence of a \u201crough sex\u201d defence now? Online pornography is proliferating and the violent and sexist nature of mainstream porn is intensifying<\/a>. In fact, Barton\u2019s laptop was found to contain recent searches for the torture of women<\/a>, including \u201cextreme penetration\u201d and the insertion of objects in women\u2019s vaginas.\u00a0Women are consistently portrayed in pornography as submissive, if not actively enjoying the violence inflicted upon them. Even more pernicious is the confusing messaging of rape porn, where women superficially protest but then succumb to the alleged \u201cpleasure\u201d of rape.<\/p>\n

Given that young people are increasingly accessing violent pornography, and given the normalization of violence against women as \u201cjust sex,\u201d<\/a> it is time for the criminal law to take a clear stand on the validity of consent to sexual activities that cause bodily harm. We argue that women\u2019s equality rights, the pursuit of sound criminal and health policy and the need to send clear and consistent messages to young people who may be influenced by pornographic myths that violence against women in sex is normal and that women are masochistic all demand a ban on the \u201crough sex\u201d defence.<\/p>\n

In Canadian law, no one can consent to bodily harm in a fistfight, which the Supreme Court describes as having \u201cprecious little utility<\/a>.\u201d However, in Ontario, consent to bodily harm during sex will be negated only when the accused \u201cintended and in fact caused\u201d<\/a> bodily harm. Other provinces have not yet decided this issue. In the Barton <\/em>decision<\/a>, the Supreme Court declined to clarify the law for the rest of Canada, and thus we are left with uncertainty in the law.<\/p>\n

It is true that the Criminal Code has been amended<\/a> to turn assault involving strangulation into assault causing bodily harm, without the prosecutor having to prove injury. However, because consent remains a defence, an accused can still argue that the complainant consented to strangulation. It is time for Parliament to explicitly acknowledge that there is \u201cprecious little utility\u201d in allowing men to bite, strangle, punch and otherwise injure women during sexual activity. In fact, the \u201crough sex\u201d defence causes irreparable harm to individual women and to women\u2019s equality rights.<\/p>\n

This article is part of the\u00a0Improving Canada\u2019s response to sexualized violence<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>special feature.<\/p>\n

Photo:\u00a0Joshua Boyle leaves the courthouse in Ottawa on Dec. 19, 2019. A judge has dismissed charges against Boyle, who had been accused of assaulting his wife, Caitlan Coleman. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Justin Tang<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Do you have something to say about the article you just read? Be part of the\u00a0<\/em>Policy Options\u00a0discussion, and send in your own submission.\u00a0Here is a\u00a0<\/em>link<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on how to do it. <\/em>|\u00a0Souhaitez-vous r\u00e9agir \u00e0 cet article ? <\/em>Joignez-vous aux d\u00e9bats d\u2019<\/em>Options politiques\u00a0et soumettez-nous votre texte en suivant ces\u00a0<\/em>directives<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note to readers: This article contains graphic descriptions that some may find disturbing. What do Joshua Boyle, Jian Ghomeshi and Bradley Barton have in common? They all claimed \u201cconsent to rough sex,\u201d Ghomeshi on his Facebook page and the others in response to criminal charges of assault, sexual assault and, in the case of Barton, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":241876,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-10-08T02:49:05Z","apple_news_api_id":"7f8c954e-6f52-423e-954b-f70905cbfb8a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-10-08T02:49:05Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Af4yVTm9SQj6VS_cJBcv7ig","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[9359,9372],"tags":[8496],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[4348,4339],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[7122],"class_list":["post-267867","issues","type-issues","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-loi-droits","category-recent-stories-fr","tag-sexualized-violence-fr","irpp-category-egalite-des-genres","irpp-category-loi-et-justice","irpp-tag-violence-liee-au-genre"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe misogyny of the so-called \u201crough sex\u201d defence<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The misogyny of the so-called \u201crough sex\u201d defence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Note to readers: This article contains graphic descriptions that some may find disturbing. What do Joshua Boyle, Jian Ghomeshi and Bradley Barton have in common? They all claimed \u201cconsent to rough sex,\u201d Ghomeshi on his Facebook page and the others in response to criminal charges of assault, sexual assault and, in the case of Barton, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Policy Options\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IRPP.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-08T02:49:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/20250773-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@irpp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/\",\"name\":\"The misogyny of the so-called \u201crough sex\u201d defence\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/20250773-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-31T16:30:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-08T02:49:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/20250773-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/20250773-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The misogyny of the so-called \u201crough sex\u201d defence\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/\",\"name\":\"Policy Options\",\"description\":\"Institute for Research on Public Policy\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The misogyny of the so-called \u201crough sex\u201d defence","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"The misogyny of the so-called \u201crough sex\u201d defence","og_description":"Note to readers: This article contains graphic descriptions that some may find disturbing. What do Joshua Boyle, Jian Ghomeshi and Bradley Barton have in common? They all claimed \u201cconsent to rough sex,\u201d Ghomeshi on his Facebook page and the others in response to criminal charges of assault, sexual assault and, in the case of Barton, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/","og_site_name":"Policy Options","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IRPP.org","article_modified_time":"2025-10-08T02:49:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1682,"url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/20250773-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@irpp","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/","name":"The misogyny of the so-called \u201crough sex\u201d defence","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/20250773-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2020-01-31T16:30:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-08T02:49:01+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/20250773-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/20250773-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/01\/the-misogyny-of-the-so-called-rough-sex-defence\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The misogyny of the so-called \u201crough sex\u201d defence"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/","name":"Policy Options","description":"Institute for Research on Public Policy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues\/267867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/issues"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267867"},{"taxonomy":"article-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-status?post=267867"},{"taxonomy":"irpp-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/irpp-category?post=267867"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=267867"},{"taxonomy":"irpp-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/irpp-tag?post=267867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}