‘I wish he would have just hit me’: Bill criminalizing ‘insidious’ form of domestic abuse dies with prorogation

The future of coercive control in Canada

For Silverstone, even in an imperfect justice system, this kind of legislation is important for victims of abuse. “It’s not perfect, but I would prefer to try and work from within to make change than to pretend that the system doesn’t exist at all.”

Both Cross and Silverstone suspect that a coercive control bill will be re-introduced in Canada, though they both hope that it will be a government bill, not a private member’s bill like Bill C-332.

Unlike a private member’s bill, a government bill would include a clause for funding, which Cross says would be essential to educate the public, law enforcement, judges, the Crown and attorneys.

“We’re talking about a much more insidious, much more hidden kind of abuse. We need to set the social context; we can’t just write a new law and hope that everybody can figure out what it means.”

Cross adds, “I’ve worked with so many women who have said ‘I wish he would have hit me across the face, because I would have understood that much more quickly as not being OK– and when I told people about what he was doing to me, they would have understood it, too.’”

For people who suspect they may be in a coercive controlling relationship, Silverstone suggests telling a trusted friend or family member about what is happening or reaching out to a domestic abuse helpline that can help discern between normal couples’ conflict and abuse.