Document Type
Commissioned Report or Study
Publication Date
6-2026
Subjects
Bill C-16
Abstract
This brief focuses specifically on the proposal in Bill C-16 to create a new criminal offence of coercive control and the absence of any correlate defence for offences committed by a person who is subject to coercion. Reviewing evidence from research in other jurisdictions that have adopted such an offence (Scotland, England and Wales, and the Australian jurisidictions of NSW and Queensland), as well as Canadian research, there is abundant evidence to suggest that more criminal law, including new offences, will not necessarily increase women’s safety; and in fact, can be predicted to expose women to greater risk of harm and retraumatisation both at the hands of their abuser and through the legal system. However, inserting a new defence of coercion into the Criminal Code and establishing national policies and protocols with respect to charging victims of intimate partner violence will provide marginalized women with some measure of protection against criminalisation.
Citation Details
Emma Cunliffe, Brief of Evidence – Bill C-16 Protecting Victims Act (2026) Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs.