In May 2022, LEAF staff lawyer Cee Strauss appeared as a witness in a Standing Committee on the Status of Women meeting on Bill C-233, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Judges Act (violence against an intimate partner).
Accounting for 45% of all violence reported by women aged 15 to 89, intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most widespread type of violence against women. We supported the provisions in Bill C-233 that aim to implement judicial education on matters of intimate partner violence, including coercive control.
We also made recommendations on how what should be included in the training, such as:
- Social context surrounding IPV,
- Different forms of IPV;
- The well-documented reality that IPV is gendered; and
- How it can impact a survivor’s memory, demeanour, and well-being.
Further, we recommended that educational materials on IPV and coercive control be created in consultation with survivors of intimate partner violence and organizations that support them.
However, LEAF raised concerns about the provisions in the bill which would require judges to consider the option of electronic monitoring as a bail condition.
Read the full submission here.
