assault
Is it illegal to touch someone without permission in Canada? Can a girl punch a guy without getting in trouble in Canada?
<p>We were having an in school field trip and got put into random groups. I was with 2 dudes and 1 girl. 1 dude kept putting his arm on my desk and I asked him to remove it.Then he kept touching me. It was a very light punch, out still technically a punch on my arm. I told him to stop touching me, but he kept doing it so I told his mom who was volunteering at the field trip. She told him to stop, out he kept doing it, the light punch on my arm. He eventually stopped, but it ruined my field trip and I can't reverse time so I have to get revenge. At recess, I told m home room teacher, but I don't think she considered it a big deal. I didn't see her talk to him or receive an apology so I am not sure what to do. I think the law will help me when I take this to bigger authority. By the way, was Friday and should I just leave it alone? Anyways, was it illegal or not? If this doesn't work, I just want to give his a hard punch and I heard it was illegal for him to punch me back so yeah.</p>

<p>Your issue is somewhere in the neighborhood of assault. An assault is a threat or attempt to inflict offensive physical contact or bodily harm on a person which puts the person in immediate danger of or in apprehension of such harm or contact. Groping is an example of offensive contact that does not involve bodily harm. Assault is against the law in two ways. First, it is a tort, meaning that the victim can sue the assailant for the damage that was caused. Second, it is generally a crime, meaning that the assailant might be punished, if convicted. The Canadian law regarding the crime of assault is <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-265.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">§265 of the Criminal Code</a>. The law says plainly that</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A person commits an assault when (a) without the consent of another
  person, he applies force intentionally to that other person, directly
  or indirectly</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Whether or not the government will pursue the matter is difficult to say. The standard procedure is that the victim reports the event to the police, who will decide whether to investigate, and it could end up in court being prosecuted by the Crown.</p>

<p>The other path is a lawsuit, where the person harmed files a lawsuit and has his day in court. The victim files a complaint alleging that certain events took place (it has to match toe legal definition of assault), and that you were harmed in a way that can be redressed with an award of money. You would, of course, hire a lawyer to pursue this, because you can't just say to the court "Make him pay, he punched me". You might be awarded something for emotional distress. You might want to talk to a lawyer about the prospects for getting an award large enough to cover your legal bill.</p>

<p>Needless to say, punching as payback is <em>also</em> assault, which as I mentioned is a crime. It's quite possible that the police will decide not to pursue the first assault but would take a dimmer view of revenge assault and prosecute you.</p>
