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| Anita Szigeti |
By then, Women in Canadian Criminal Defence (WiCCD) had heard what happened and written to the local administrative judge expressing concern for the safety of their 800 members, all women legal professionals working for accused persons facing criminal charges.
Full disclosure: I founded WiCCD in 2022 after a particular incident in which I didn’t like something somebody said to me in a public-facing way. I felt insulted and belittled, and that led me to reflect on how women are treated in criminal defence. I determined to really confront gender-based discrimination in the practice of criminal law. But I didn’t have this on my 2026 bingo card.
Knowing what has transpired in Oshawa, the last few days have been very difficult. What I thought we’d be taking on with WiCCD — the things I was troubled by some five years ago now — were, for instance, the pressure to insert smiley faces in your emails when you were a woman delivering any kind of pointed message, or heaven forbid some kind of criticism, to a male colleague. Or tone-policing by male colleagues of our communications generally. Or comments about how we dress or smile or don’t smile enough. That kind of thing.
In retrospect, all of those concerns suddenly seem so naive, quaint even. Even while WiCCD’s online discussion forums did address more serious issues, like being berated by a judge unfairly or sexual harassment in the workplace, I still wasn’t expecting to see this.
Never in my more than 33 years of practising law in this province have I ever seen this. And I never, ever want to see it again. Police physically assaulting a small Black woman acting in her capacity as criminal defence counsel until blood runs down her head and her eye swells. The photos in the Toronto Star are chilling and deeply disturbing. And my colleagues do not feel safe, are no longer safe, in the courthouses where they work, where we work.
This incident has cast a deep and very dark shadow over the lives of women in criminal defence. As if they weren’t already leaving in droves — for better pay, better working conditions, pensions and parental leave, to the Crown’s office or the judiciary. This may very well be the final straw for many of what’s left of the women in our bar. For those who are Black or racialized, younger women in defence. Those who now legitimately and reasonably, ever so justifiably fear for their safety when they go to work every day.
The courthouse is where criminal lawyers work. Crown attorneys in criminal courts are welcomed there. Judges tend to respect state actors. The defence lawyer is not as universally extended the same welcome or respect. Those of us working for the poorest, most vulnerable accused persons, often on legal aid retainers, have long understood that we were not valued in the same way as our state counterparts. It has bothered us, and we have spoken out about it.
But we were not expecting this. We were not expecting that we would be left unable to go to work, for fear that we could be physically harmed, or worse.
By those encharged by our courts to protect us all. Police acting as security in the courts.
When Black women, racialized women, all women go to work in our courts, we are entitled to be there, have earned our place. We must be free to do the heavy work of defending constitutional rights against abuses by the state in an environment free of harassment, discrimination, intimidation or — and this should go without saying but apparently does not — physical attacks. We have basic civil rights in this country that we must all uphold.
An assault on an officer of the court is an assault on the rule of law, on democracy, and an affront to the administration of justice. Every justice system participant should be on extreme high alert in the wake of this troubling incident. If we don’t all stand together now and tackle whatever led us here, we risk becoming our neighbours to the south.
Sudine Riley is brave for bringing what happened to her into the bright light of day. The least we can do is make sure that what she has suffered is not swept under the carpet, but thoroughly and independently investigated, exposed, and that nothing of the kind ever happens again. What comes next may be very challenging for our justice system. It may mean delving deep into how something like this could possibly have happened and why. This conversation should be broad and open and willing to re-examine more than just how courthouse security operates in this province. And talking isn’t going to be enough — then we have to walk the walk.
Anita Szigeti is the principal lawyer at Anita Szigeti Advocates, a boutique Toronto law firm specializing in mental health justice litigation. She is the founder of two national volunteer lawyer associations: the Law and Mental Disorder Association and Women in Canadian Criminal Defence. Find her on LinkedIn, follow her on X and on her blog.
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