How judges in Canadian criminal courts define intimate partner violence

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a substantial problem in Canada, leading to over 100,000 victims reporting to police in Canada annually. However, there is no legal definition or Canadian Criminal Code offence for IPV. The purpose of this study was to examine how judges in the Canadian prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) define IPV in criminal cases. One hundred full-text, written judicial decisions from 2016 to 2022 were analyzed. Findings indicate that judges tend to discuss IPV as it relates to sexual and psychological violence; threats, coercive control, and physical violence; isolation and stalking; economic abuse and threats to take children away. Given that current Canadian law does not recognize psychological abuse as a criminal offence, this may signal a need for the creation of a legal definition of IPV to align with how more directly it is being discussed in courtrooms.

Keywords

• Psychological abuse
• emotional abuse
• coercive control
• Canadian Criminal Code
• judicial decisions