Hockey Canada verdict could break new ground on sexual consent

A verdict this week in the prosecution of five hockey players on sexual-assault charges could break new ground on the question of what constitutes voluntary consent, in cases of an apparent power imbalance – in this instance, multiple men in a hotel room with an intoxicated woman most of them had never met.

The trial, which heard closing submissions last month, has given a rare national profile to how the criminal-justice system addresses sexual assault. The trial’s many unusual elements, including seven days of cross-examination of the complainant, and allegations against five young men from Canada’s 2018 gold medal-winning world junior team, have combined to give this case a broad importance in social and legal terms.