Ontario woman awarded $400,000 over husband’s decades-long abuse in legal first

The facts of the case are distressing, but it is the legal tool the court used to address the husband’s behaviour that is most notable. The judge’s award is grounded in the tort of intimate partner violence, a cause of action the Supreme Court of Canada created only in May, when it released its decision in the case of Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia.

A tort is a civil wrong. It allows a person who has been harmed to sue the wrongdoer for monetary damages, separate and apart from any criminal charge. In this case, it applies on top of any ordinary division of property or payment of support in a divorce.

The distinguishing feature of the new tort is coercive control, which is a pattern of domination that causes distinct harm by stripping an intimate partner of their dignity, autonomy and equality within the relationship. Hallmarks include financial control, isolation, intimidation and threats. While assault and battery focus on discrete incidents, the new tort is designed to capture the entirety of an abusive relationship and the pattern of behaviour, and its impact, over the course of the relationship.

Link to full article here.