In Canada, Judge Rules That Being a Dom Is a Mental Illness

BRITISH COLUMBIA, Can.—So... a 17-year-old girl who described herself as a "goth girl" with an "artiste presentation" and who's a "non-conformist" gets in a car accident in 2008, starts working as a dominatrix five years later, and a B.C. Supreme Court judge decides that the reason she's whipping people for a living now is that she suffered a "moderate brain injury" in the car accident? Only in Canada, right? And they gave the girl one and a half million bucks! Alissa Alfonina, then about to enter 12th grade, was a passenger, with her mother and brother, in a car driven by the mom's boyfriend Peter Jansson when his Toyota ended up in a ditch by the side of Highway 1 in British Columbia. Nothing controversial so far, and at trial, Justice Joel Grove found that Jansson had been negligent in driving too fast for conditions. So far, so good. But according to testimony at trial, Alissa's teacher Phil Byrne had said that the girl was a "very bright student, in the top two per cent of her media-arts high school class who dreamt of being a filmmaker or actress," according to Keith Fraser of Postmedia News. In his opinion, Justice Groves recounted Byrne's testimony that after the accident, "[Alissa] showed signs of no impulse control, could not carry through and tasks were not done.  Instructions had to be repeated to her. Things had to be read over and over.  She became socially isolated and began to have outbursts in class. She made sexual comments during these outbursts that were inappropriate for the class setting. Mr. Byrne was of the view that she did not appear to filter her thoughts and acted as if she was unaware of her social environment He described her memory as scattered and inconsistent. He described her follow-through as limited, as matters would have to be explained to her repeatedly, and she would then forget the instructions within 20 minutes. Her energy level was notably different. Before the accident he described her as a young livewire, while post-accident, she was often sleepy and put her head down in class. He gave numerous examples of instances where her lack of social appropriateness required counsellors to intervene.  Her talk was unfiltered, random, and as he described, not logical for the school social environment, or 'out of left field'. "Lawyers for Afonina argued that her decision to begin working as a dominatrix at some point prior to her trial last year showed a lack of 'correct thinking' and was proof she'd taken an unnecessary risk due to a loss of cognitive function from a moderate traumatic brain injury," Fraser continued, while Jansson's attorney argued that the fact that she maintained an occupation as a dominatrix showed that she "could organize herself to maintain a modest level of employment income." Anyone who doubts that it takes a hell of a lot of organization to succeed as a professional dominatrix probably doesn't know one... but Justice Groves certainly seems to be in that category. "I believe that both the plaintiff and defendant can show that fact of Alissa’s work as a dominatrix supports the finding of some facts which support their ultimate view of the manifestations of the brain injuries as suffered by Alissa in the accident," Groves wrote in his opinion, adding that "Afonina had not acted to minimize her risks by implementing an alarm system or safety measures in her work as a dominatrix, evidence of a diminished judgment on her part and a factor supporting a theory of frontal lobe damage." And since in a civil suit, the verdict goes to the party that makes the best case through a "preponderance of the evidence"—unlike a criminal trial, where a person's guilt must be established "beyond a reasonable doubt"—Groves decided that the mere fact that Alfonina chose to work as a dom was evidence of brain injury. Try that in an American court! Pictured: Alissa Alfonina, before and after.