Good evening, and thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am grateful for the invitation to speak today regarding your study of Bill C-16.
My name is Kendra Cooke, and I am here to reflect my experiences of intimate partner violence and coercive control.
I experienced coercive control throughout my marriage and continue to be subjected to these abuses more than three years post-separation.
Here is a list of just some of the ways I have experienced, and continue to experience, coercive control: dozens of false reports made against me to police, children's aid, health care providers and the children's school; repeatedly urging me to kill myself and offering to give me one of his firearms to do so; isolation from family and friends; limiting my ability to work; stalking and surveillance by my ex and a work colleague of his; abhorrent and harassing communications in person and through the phone, social media and a court-ordered parenting app; disregarding numerous court orders dictating the content and tone of our communications and contact; employing the legal system to perpetuate harms; financial abuses; intimidation through the purchase and display of firearms; psychological and emotional abuse of our children during his parenting time; withholding child support and employee health benefits for the children; warning me that he has befriended a judge who would be presiding over our family court case and threatening that he would gain full custody of our children; weaponizing the justice system against me; involving our children in parental conflict, eroding their sense of safety and well-being; having me criminally charged without providing evidence to police or the Crown attorney; and threatening to kill me, my parents, my current partner and her children.
For years, I sought support to safeguard my family from these abuses and their far-reaching consequences. Unfortunately, all of the child welfare and justice systems I have encountered are woefully ill-equipped to respond to the abuse we are experiencing. I have routinely been told that because there has been no physical violence in the home, there was nothing anyone could do to help me and that self-help would negatively impact my efforts to secure a divorce and custody agreement in family court.
I met the criteria to live in a second-stage residence for women who have experienced violence, qualified for supports through victim services and consistently scored as high risk for spousal assault through B-SAFER, a tool developed by Canada's Department of Justice. Even a court-ordered investigation by the Office of the Children's Lawyer and a subsequent report detailing serious concerns regarding my ex's abusive behaviours have not been enough to end the abuse.
My experience makes it gravely apparent that the professional expertise of social workers and counsellors is not acknowledged within the systems that could actually intervene to create safety and to hold perpetrators to account and that those systems do not operate in a legislative framework that supports victims.
A move to criminalize coercive control must include efforts to educate actors throughout the justice system and across jurisdictions. As stated in the bill, coercive control can only be defined through a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviours experienced over time. Demonstrating these patterns becomes nearly impossible for victims because every part of the justice system is designed to operate in a silo, systematically disregarding evidence and experience that occurs outside of it, not to mention the unreasonable burden of proving an intent to harm in the current writing of this bill.
We must recognize the authority of professionals working to support victims to affirm experiences of coercive control when police and courts are investigating such crimes. It may also be imperative to adjust other laws and interventions to align with the language in Bill C-16, particularly that “a person's safety includes their psychological safety.”
For example, in order to be granted a peace bond, the applicant must have had a prior physical assault. I learned this the hard way when I applied for a peace bond; I was advised by the Crown attorney that current legislation does not support issuance of such, given the lack of physical harm I had experienced. Unsurprisingly, angered by my efforts to seek a peace bond, my ex retaliated by having me arrested and charged for a crime I did not commit without providing any evidence. This experience was traumatic and violating, and it continues to limit my ability to contribute to my community and provide for my family.
In closing, a collaborative approach across systems, along with public education, will be necessary to achieve any positive outcome from the criminalization of coercive control. I urge this committee to carefully consider the work of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women and its report on coercive control in Canada in addition to the witness testimony you hear as you continue the crucial work of studying Bill C-16 and its potential implications in the lives of victims.
Thank you.