Violence driven by control and fear leaves deep and lasting harm in homes and communities across the country. This kind of abuse falls disproportionately on women, and too often the consequences are deadly. Predators prey on the most vulnerable among us, committing some of the most horrific crimes imaginable against children. These are among the most traumatic and disturbing cases in our justice system today, and Canada’s new government is moving swiftly to better protect victims and survivors, and ensure abusers and predators face the full force of the law.
Following sweeping reforms to make bail laws stricter and toughen sentencing laws for violent and organized crime, the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, announced today the introduction of the Protecting Victims Act, one of the most consequential reforms of the Criminal Code in a generation to protect victims and survivors of sexual violence, gender-based violence, and intimate partner violence, and to keep our kids safe from predators. This legislation also responds to long-standing concerns about court delays under the Jordan framework, which limits how long cases can take before they risk being dismissed, sometimes leaving victims without a resolution.
Stop intimate partner violence and femicide
- Making murder motivated by hate first-degree, including femicide: The Criminal Code would classify murders driven by hate or that occur alongside controlling or coercive behaviour of an intimate partner, sexual violence or exploitation as first-degree murder, even when there was no planning and deliberation. These killings overwhelmingly target women, with intimate partner homicides rising 39% last year and 81% of victims being women.
- Criminalize coercive control to facilitate intervention before intimate partner violence turns lethal: Abuse often escalates through patterns of control long before physical violence occurs. A new offence would target patterns of coercive or controlling behaviour, giving the justice system the tools to intervene before violence escalates.
- Modernize sexual violence protections: The proposed legislation would prohibit the distribution of non-consensual sexual deepfakes, increase penalties for the distribution of intimate images without consent, prohibit threats to distribute such images, and increase penalties for sexual assault on summary conviction.
You can read the full article at the Government of Canada.