A Nova Scotian man has just been convicted of sexual assault (for a crime that happened way back in 2006, by the way). According to CBC, he had been dating a woman for several months when she began to talk about breaking up with him. He thought that if she got pregnant, it would save their relationship, so he poked holes in all their condoms, without her knowledge or consent. It sort of worked - the woman got pregnant, but when the man confessed to her, instead of being overjoyed, she called the cops.
Leaving aside the obvious - who could be that messed up to actually believe that this would save a relationship - the issue is whether this was sexual assault, or aggravated sexual assault, which was the original charge brought against him.
Sexual assault, in Canada, is defined as sexual contact with a person against that person's will. Aggravated sexual assault is basically sexual assault that could potentially seriously harm/kill that individual. Rape with a weapon is aggravated sexual assault. Having unprotected sex with someone without telling that someone that you've got HIV/AIDS is aggravated sexual assault. But is having secretly unprotected sex with someone with the sole aim of getting them pregnant sexual assault, or aggravated sexual assault?
Personally, I would argue the latter. The woman ended up getting an abortion, and got a uterus infection from that abortion. Whether or not you agree with that choice is up to you, but pregnancy itself can be pretty darn dangerous. According to the WHO, in 1995 500 000 women died worldwide of causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. 20 million of them experience ill-health related to their pregnancies. Deliberately impregnating someone against their knowledge warrants an aggravated sexual assault charge in my opinion. What do you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment