Consent and the Law

The principles of consent that apply to assault also apply to sexual assault. The victim of sexual touching must freely consent to the act, and must understand the nature of the act being consented to. The courts have applied the definition of consent to mean that a person cannot consent to having serious bodily harm done to himself or herself (R. v. Jobidon (1991, S.C.C.)).

Consent means the voluntary agreement of the complainant to engage in the sexual activity in question.

No consent is obtained when:

• The agreement is expressed by the words or conduct of another person other than the victim (complainant)
• The complainant is incapable of consenting to the activity
• The accused (by abusing a position of trust, power or authority) induces the complainant to engage in the act
• The complainant expresses by words or conduct a lack of agreement to engage in the act or
• The complainant, having consented to engage in the sexual activity, expresses (by words or conduct) a lack of agreement to continue to engage in the activity

Legal Age
A person who is under the age of sixteen cannot consent to sexual activity with another person who is five or more years old than them. A person who is under the age of fourteen years cannot consent to sexual activity with another person who is two or more years old than them. In any case, a person in authority cannot use consent as a defense of having sexual activity with a person under the age of sixteen