Good morning, everyone.
As a result of numerous studies over the past 20 years with women and children who are victims of domestic violence, it's now clear that the perpetrators of this domestic violence use all sorts of strategies to maintain control over the victims and to deprive them of their freedom. Unfortunately, at present, many of these strategies commonly used by perpetrators are not offences under the Criminal Code. So they go unpunished and deprive the victims of resources, support and protection they need and are entitled to.
The criminalization of coercive control or controlling and coercive behaviour would therefore, as a first step, allow for a better validation of the experience of victims of domestic violence, whether women or children. It would also give additional tools to police, prosecutors and the various actors in the system to better protect victims. In addition, I believe that the criminalization of controlling and coercive conduct could pave the way for better training of the various actors in the criminal justice system, for new initiatives in prevention and intervention, and for changes in family law and child protection.
Lastly, I would like to draw your attention to three elements.
First, in this context, it seems extremely important to criminalize controlling and coercive conduct, and not isolated behaviours. The issue here is the accumulation of behaviours in a context of deprivation of freedom.
In addition, it seems extremely important to ensure that these offences cover incidents of violence that occur after separation and that they also apply even when spouses no longer live together.
Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the importance of carefully considering the situation of children in a context of controlling and coercive conduct. Children are very often at the heart of the strategies used by perpetrators of domestic violence to control their spouse or ex-spouse and deprive her of her freedom. The numerous studies we've conducted with children living in a context of domestic violence have shown that their experience is marked not only by exposure to specific incidents or acts, but even more so by daily exposure to a climate of tension and terror caused by controlling and coercive conduct. In this regard, I invite you to consider an approach similar to that taken in Scotland, for example, where offences involving controlling and coercive conduct are considered even more serious when they target children or when children are exposed to them.