The Supreme Court of Canada recognized Intimate partner violence as a new civil injustice on Friday. The majority said it was a “devastating social evil” that the law must address.
Six judges decided in favor of recognition Intimate partner violence as new unlawful act– an act or omission that causes injury to another and constitutes a civil wrong giving rise to liability. Justice Nicholas Kasirer accepted for the majority that intimate partner violence violates the dignity, autonomy and equality of the victim in a relationship that is not covered by current tort law. The law fails to adequately compensate victims because it does not recognize the violence as a cumulative pattern of coercive control whose effects are disproportionate Women and its increased expression in intimate relationships.
To assert the tort, a plaintiff must prove that the defendant intentionally committed the abusive behavior resulting from an intimate relationship and that it objectively constituted coercive control. In her concurring opinion, Judge Andromache Karakatsanis would also have included acts of violence or threats of violence that cause physical or psychological harm, rather than limiting the tort to objective coercive control.
The three dissenting justices described this development as “unprecedented” in the common law tradition, assuming that the majority framed the damages claim from a vacuum of comparative law or legal commentary. They criticized the majority for creating legal uncertainty as there is limited guidance on the scope of coercive control and the quantification of damages under the new tort. Several justices expressed this concern earlier in the hearing.
Kate Feeney, litigation director at advocacy group West Coast LEAF, said The ruling is a “groundbreaking step” in the fight against discrimination against survivors of intimate partner violence. Niki Sharma, the attorney general of British Columbia, also welcomed the ruling. add The:
This ruling will make a meaningful difference for survivors and builds on ongoing work in British Columbia to better support them, including initiatives such as the Family Law Act modernization project, that Intimate Images Protection Act and our further development work in connection with Dr. Kim Stanton Recommendations to address systemic and legal barriers in British Columbia’s legal system.
The legislature of New Brunswick also stands in this context move to remove that Limitation period Victims of intimate partner violence can file a lawsuit against the perpetrator.
According to the police report DataIn 2024, there were 356 victims of intimate partner violence per 100,000 people in Canada. This corresponds to an increase of 14 percent compared to 2018. The rate of women and girls who were victims of intimate partner violence was 3.5 times higher than that of men and boys in 2024.
The case, Ahluwalia vs AhluwaliaIt’s about a wife who suffered from intimate partner violence during her 16-year marriage. The behaviors complained of included physical assault, humiliation, isolation of the wife from the family, pressure for sex through abuse, and financial control. The judge ruled in favor of the wife and recognized the new crime of violence in the family. However, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled unanimously explained that the law should not recognize the new tort.
