I think the conceptions of what violence is are not clear. With something like coercive control, which is an emerging understanding, I think the courts need assistance to figure out what that looks like.
The other thing is that courts tend to look at discrete acts of violence rather than the overall pattern of control and abuse. We've had legislation in Ontario since 2006, making violence and abuse mandatory considerations in custody and access, and it's not showing. It's not translating into big changes in terms of outcomes, so it's clear that we need more. We need to assist courts to understand what that looks like, what it means and what the implications are for children.