Opinion: Poilievre and Carney can’t punish intimate partner violence away

First, we must acknowledge a critical truth: most violence against women is never reported to police.

Survivors often choose not to engage with police or the courts, and for good reason. Many fear being retraumatized, facing retaliation, experiencing stigma or simply don’t trust the legal system. Only about six per cent of sexual assaults are reported to police in Canada. Of those, only one in three leads to charges and an even smaller fraction results in a guilty verdict.

That means most perpetrators are never arrested, sentenced or held accountable for their behaviours in the systems our politicians want to strengthen. If we rely on the criminal legal system alone to protect women, we’re ignoring the vast majority of violence.

Second, criminal charges and penalties don’t deter or reduce intimate partner violence. In fact, they can make things worse. Research shows that criminal responses alone don’t prevent violence and may even escalate it in the short term. And studies confirm that incarceration, restraining orders and emergency protection orders rarely stop perpetrators from reoffending, unless paired with therapeutic support and systemic interventions.

Which leads me to the third reason: punishment is reactive — by the time the legal system steps in, the harm is already done. We need prevention to stop violence before it starts.

Link to full story here.