Criminalizing coercive control

Canada is on the verge of becoming the latest jurisdiction – after England-Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Australia – to make coercive control by an intimate partner a criminal offence.

Legislation working its way through Parliament defines coercive control as engaging in controlling or coercive conduct involving exploitation, humiliation, manipulation or isolation of another person, which has a significant impact on them, including a fear of violence, a decline in their physical or mental health or a substantial adverse effect on their day-to-day activities.

Justice Minister Arif Virani sees criminalizing the act as a way to combat femicide — the killing of a woman by a past or present intimate partner. He has called gender-based violence an “epidemic requiring immediate action.” Link to full story here.