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Parliament excised the term “rape” from the Criminal Code in the early ’80s as part of a series of reforms that changed how the law dealt with violence against women. The term “rape” was replaced with varying degrees of severity of sexual assault. Lawmakers hoped these reforms would allow prosecutors to pursue a wider range of sexual violence.

Pamela Cross, a legal consultant in Ontario who specializes in violence against women, said Monday there has been backlash against feminism that has led to a dismissive attitude toward sexual assault in general.

“When the language of sexual assault is used — and in the Criminal Code, that’s the only language that’s available to us now — we can deny violence against women by saying ‘Well, for all we know he bumped up against her accidentally in the elevator,’” she said.

The ambiguity, she said, is potentially a disservice to victims of all stripes.

“I don’t want to imply by what I’m saying that there is ‘bad rape’ and then ‘things that aren’t so bad,’” she said. “It has to be a very nuanced discussion. It has to involve a wide spectrum of people, from survivors of sexual violence to those of us who work on behalf them.”

Ms. Cross said the reforms were part of a necessary shift in thinking toward sexual violence at the time.

“There was a whole range of inappropriate sexual contact that was happening that needed to be dealt with in the Criminal Code that wasn’t covered adequately by the word ‘rape,’” she said. “At the time, it was helpful.”