Ontario judge used verdict to deliver a scathing attack on rape myths and the treatment of sexual assault complainants and victims in Canada’s legal system

A judge in Ontario has used his verdict in a sexual assault trial to deliver a scathing critique of rape myths, the treatment of sexual assault complainants in Canada’s legal system and expectations on how survivors should act after an assault.

“The myths of rape should be dispelled once and for all,” Justice Marvin Zuker wrote in his 179-page decision on Thursday. “It doesn’t matter if the victim was drinking, out at night alone, sexually exploited, on a date with the perpetrator, or how the victim was dressed. No one asks to be raped.”

The sexual assault trial over which he was presiding began in February, on the same day in the same Toronto courthouse as the trial of former radio star Jian Ghomeshi. The high-profile trial sparked a national conversation on sexual assault before Ghomeshi was acquitted of all charges in March.

In a courtroom just one floor above Ghomeshi’s, the trial of Mustafa Ururyar played out differently. Ururyar was accused of sexually assaulting Mandi Gray while the two were doctoral students at Toronto’s York University. Gray waived her right to a publication ban on her identity.

The court heard that in January of last year, after the pair had been casually dating for a few weeks, Gray had texted Ururyar while she was out drinking with some friends. “Come drink and then we can have hot sex,” she wrote.

Ururyar joined her and later that night, as the pair made their way back to his house, Gray told the court Ururyar began hurling insults at her, calling her “needy” and “a slut”. After they arrived at his apartment, Gray said he forced her to perform oral sex on him and that he raped her.

Ururyar, who pleaded not guilty to sexual assault, told the court that he and Gray had engaged in consensual sex that night. He said that Gray had been sexually aggressive the entire night and had initiated sex even after he had tried to break up with her.

In his decision, the judge blasted Ururyar’s version of events, calling it a “fabrication, credible never”. He found Ururyar guilty of sexual assault, he said. “Rape it was. No confusion. No uncertainty to this court,” he said. “Mandi Gray remembered what was important on January 31, 2015 and she is right. Asking her to remember the details is ridiculous.”

He slammed the tactics used by Ururyar to defend himself. “He went or tried to go to any length to discredit Ms Gray, if not to invalidate her. Such twisted logic.”

The myths of rape needed to be dispelled, once and for all, he said in the decision. “We cannot perpetuate the belief that niceness cannot coexist with violence, evil or deviance and consequently the nice guy must not be guilty of the alleged offence.”

He also took on what he called unrealistic expectations around how a survivor should act. “For much of our history the ‘good’ rape victim, the ‘credible’ rape victim has been a dead one,” he wrote. “There are many misguided conceptions of what constitutes a ‘real’ rape or how a ‘real’ victim of sexual violence should behave (ie scream, struggle to the utmost and report immediately). No matter how sophisticated the law is, any allegation that derogates from the stereotype is likely to be approached with a degree of suspicion.”

He added: “No other crime is looked upon with the degree of blameworthiness, suspicion, and doubt as a rape victim. Victim blaming is unfortunately common and is one of the most significant barriers to justice and offender accountability,” he said.

As the judge read his decision in court on Thursday, it was met with applause and delighted cries from the dozen or so people – most of them survivors – gathered in the gallery.

Calling the verdict revolutionary, the Toronto Star said the verdict “changed the landscape of sexual assault and the criminal justice system”. A 2012 study from the University of Ottawa suggested that just 0.3% of perpetrators of sexual assault in Canada are held accountable for their actions.

Gray said she was taken aback by the judgment. “I think it’s massive, these statements,” she told reporters. She was quick to add, “It’s really sad that the legal system is doing what it is supposed to and we are all shocked.”

The verdict did little to blunt the trauma of the past year and a half, she said. “But, I mean, these statements don’t un-rape me, first of all, and nor does it erase the process that I’ve had to go through.”

She pointed to her experience of reporting the incident to police, which left her feeling as though she was to blame for what happened. “This process has been so brutal to me that I just cannot at this moment feel any sort of happiness. I will give you that the judgment is beautiful, and I will appreciate it one day, but not quite yet. I’m still not over the trauma of the system.”