Ontario judges wrong to rely on sex assault stereotypes, Appeal Court rules, ordering new trials for acquitted men

Two sexual assault cases are headed back for new trials after Ontario’s top court found the judges were wrong to rely on myths and stereotypes to doubt the alleged victims’ accounts of what happened.

The rulings show just how much this issue continues to permeate the criminal justice system, experts say. Underscoring the problem is that one of the judges who was overturned, Brampton Superior Court Justice Renu Mandhane, herself called out the courts’ overreliance on “rape myths” in an article written before her appointment to the bench. A link to the news article can be found here.