We were very happy with the changes to the Divorce Act, which now includes controlling and coercive behaviours.
Now, we are working hard [Technical difficulty—Editor] to have the same definition used, to guide the courts in the judgments they give.
The specialized court has been created, and all the participants involved in these issues will receive training, be they police, prosecutors or psychosocial professionals. We are therefore very hopeful that we will be better able to take all aspects of these women's experiences into account.
Spousal violence is not limited to a single criminal incident. It often takes place over many years, during which a number of acts are committed and a number of tactics are used. Often, those tactics and those acts are not criminal in themselves and seem trivial, but they instil fear in women and take away their freedom.
We have to be able to take all these facts into account. It all has an impact in our judicial system.