It’s not hard, keep your hands to yourself

What’s up with sexual assault training for judges and taxi drivers?

This is about how the judicial system, despite the blindfold that is supposed to render it objective, isn’t.

It’s not hard, keep your hands to yourself.

I’ve written before about my father and his battle with Alzheimer’s disease. In the early years, before anyone really knew what was going on with him, he would say odd things or engage in slightly bizarre behaviour that was unlike him. As they say, hindsight is 20/20, and when I look back, I see the telltale signs so clearly. I remember my own indignation and anger when faced with my father’s unreasonable comments and behaviour; not having any context in which to understand them, I simply thought he was exhibiting the worst of male privilege, and told my mother she could live with me if she wanted. I was so wrong. He was a sick man. We didn’t know how sick until she died and we discovered how much she covered for him.

So, that’s become my internal go-to explanation when I hear old men say silly things or act in inappropriate ways. Like when a judge makes comments regarding a young sexual assault survivor during her assailant’s trial, speculating as to her feelings of being flattered, commenting on her looks. He must be getting senile, I think, and I wonder if people who need to rely on their cognitive powers have to undergo some kind of annual mini-mental test as they age to prove they still have what it takes to discharge their duties responsibly.

I don’t believe that’s being ageist, but practical. Dementia in all its various forms is on the rise around the world. According to the Alzheimer Society, there are 25,000 new cases of Alzheimer’s in Canada each year. It seems we can’t escape the water references; the Alzheimer’s Society calls it a “rising tide” and it threatens to engulf us all in some way or the other. But you know this isn’t about dementia. This is about how the judicial system, despite the blindfold that is supposed to render it objective, isn’t. It’s comprised of human beings and their subjective understanding of the world. Some judges use it for good, but others … well, I don’t know what’s going on with the others.

When I think of the years of education it takes to become a judge, the level of intelligence needed to acquire the right credentials, and the wisdom that comes from exposure to life’s many troubles, I am baffled that a judge, in 2017, can make the comments that Justice Jean-Paul Braun of Quebec Court made in May. In May. It’s now the end of October. How is it that it’s taken so long for these comments to come to light?

Was this judge not paying attention to the outcry that attended Alberta judge Robin Camp who suggested a rape survivor keep her knees together? Which begs the question of what’s up with those training programs for judges that were promised? It seems we can’t get them up and running fast enough. Earlier this month, Ontario Supreme Court Justice Robert Smith found an Ottawa man not guilty of raping his wife, finding that the man honestly believed he did not need his wife’s consent to have sex with her, so, no intent to rape, just to exert his power and privilege as a male, like he was raised to believe. That’s an excuse now, I guess. No such thing as rape culture, eh? And what is going on with taxi drivers? Once upon a time and a lifetime away, I found myself out alone at night with no way to get home. A taxi driver gave me a lift, no charge, and threw in a lecture along the way about the dangers to young women alone at night with no way home. He was a father of daughters and he’d seen enough nightlife for all their lifetimes. But now? When I read the details of the Braun case and found it was another taxi driver trying to take advantage of a fare, after the two cases in Halifax recently, I thought, what is going on? I was speaking to a friend who told me her daughters have come to rely on Uber, although Uber has its own challenges with handy drivers, so that might be out of the frying pan and into the fire.

What kind of training do taxi drivers undergo? A quick Google search reveals varying requirements across jurisdictions. A driver’s licence and a clean criminal record are needed, and Hamilton requires that our drivers undergo almost 50 hours of training that includes one session on decision-making, ethics, accountability and image.

But really, it’s not that hard. First of all, your cab isn’t to find “dates.” And second, don’t touch anyone in any way unless you ask them first and they say it’s OK. No excuses.

Margaret Shkimba is a writer who lives in Hamilton. She can be reached at menrvasofia@gmail.com or you can “Friend” her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter (@menrvasofia)