Good morning.
We thank the committee for the opportunity to speak on such an important topic as the criminalization of coercive control. We also want to thank Mr. Garrison and Ms. Collins, members of Parliament, for having persevered in their efforts to create this offence.
Our association comprises 46 shelters, located throughout Quebec, for women and children who are victims of domestic violence.
Our position in favour of criminalizing coercive control is based on our members' expertise, numerous consultations with our partners and a major project to improve legal practices by including coercive control among the factors for consideration. As a result of this project, over 4,000 stakeholders in Quebec's justice system have been trained over the past year.
Finally, we also met with a number of stakeholders in England and Scotland to determine how to move forward and what has been learned from the criminalization of coercive control. Everyone agrees that they wouldn't go back to the way things were. Criminalization has led to a change in the fundamental conversation about how to better intervene in situations involving domestic violence.
Women who are victims of domestic violence are subject to a variety of types of control and violence. Physical violence isn't the main reason why the majority of women being supported by our members seek our services. Indeed, women requesting our services outside the shelter environment did so for a past relationship. That comes as no surprise, since we know that domestic violence can continue many years after the relationship ends.
Criminalizing coercive control would bring about some major improvements.
Recognizing the impact of coercive control on women and children would constitute a major step forward for victims. Deprivation of liberty and constant control, hallmarks of the dynamics of violence and coercive control, often have more significant and longer-term repercussions than physical violence does.
Coercive control has an impact on the entire family as well. The arbitrary rules, constant tension and fear imposed on the family are harmful to children's well-being. The children are victims too. They too can be subject to arbitrary rules. I'm referring to their limited access to resources, control over their activities and movements, and restrictions on seeing loved ones or friends.
Instead of taking a limited view based on isolated incidents, which is not representative of the lived experience of victims and their children, it is important to consider their accounts as a whole. Criminalizing coercive control would validate their experience.
Criminalization, if accompanied by enforcement measures, has the potential to increase victims' confidence in the justice system.