British ColumbiaBritish Columbia’s attorney general has announced further provincial measures aimed at combating intimate partner violence, while calling newly tabled federal legislation “a step toward justice.”The changes come after the release of a systemic review in JuneListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma responds to questions outside B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. Sharma said Tuesday the province will be establishing a comprehensive provincial framework to provide guidance to help better respond to intimate partner violence. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)British Columbia’s attorney general has announced further provincial measures aimed at combating intimate partner violence, while calling newly tabled federal legislation “a step toward justice.”Nikki Sharma said Tuesday the province will be establishing a comprehensive provincial framework to provide guidance to all those within the justice system to help better respond to intimate partner violence. B.C. will also be creating an “internal government accountability mechanism to monitor the implementation” of reforms she said. The changes come after the release of a systemic review in June of the province’s treatment of victims, survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence in the legal system. Sharma said the province has heard from advocates who have expressed the need for “consistent risk assessments” across the legal system to protect survivors from further violence, and government will move quickly on standardizing those assessments. “That’s going to require sitting down with police, sitting down with different parts of the justice system to make sure they are inserted at the right moment and have the right quality to them,” she said during a news conference in Vancouver. WATCH | Justice minister announces new legislation to address gender-based violence:Justice minister announces new legislation to protect children, address gender-based violenceJustice Minister Sean Fraser announced the Protecting Victims Act on Tuesday which aims to protect children and survivors of sexual and intimate partner violence. The bill includes tougher penalties for sexual offenses such as distributing intimate images and sexual deepfakes. Her announcement on Tuesday comes as the federal government tabled legislation that includes classifying femicide — including cases relating to an intimate partner — as first-degree murder.Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced the new legislation earlier Tuesday, which if passed will make bail and sentencing laws stricter for sexual crimes and intimate partner violence, including tougher penalties for sexual offenses such as distributing intimate images and sexual deepfakes. WATCH | Calls for action on intimate partner violence:Calls grow for tough action on perpetrators of intimate-partner violence B.C. Premier David Eby was in Ottawa on Thursday, and one of the topics he raised with his federal counterparts is the need for bail reform and tougher action on perpetrators of intimate-partner violence. As Katie DeRosa reports, it comes as the family of a woman allegedly killed by her ex-husband in Kelowna calls for urgent reforms.”Not only is intimate partner violence among the most serious of crimes a person can commit, but if a pattern of sexual violence, control and abuse cumulates in murder, the perpetrator cannot get away with a more lenient punishment by arguing the murder itself was not planned or premeditated. A record of abuse should be considered evidence of premeditation,” she told the conference.”This is a key step in ensuring families of victims receive the justice they deserve.”The changes come less than two months after B.C. announced stricter bail for those accused or convicted of sexual violence, but Sharma said it has become clear that more needed to be done. Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director with Battered Women’s Support Services in Vancouver, said the federal and provincial measures are welcome but overdue.Angela Marie MacDougall with the Battered Women’s Support Services says the government’s efforts are a positive step but says the province needs to act quickly to tackle violence against women. (CBC)“This moment reflects a major reworking of the Canadian legal system…it’s the first time we’re seeing intimate partner violence and sexualized violence being focused on in this way,” she said. She says it’s encouraging that the province is focusing on risk assessment as a way to prevent harm. “It’s a very important tool that has been underutilized so far in the criminal system,” she said. “But we’re already late and there are already women that have been killed as a result of failed risk assessments done by the criminal legal system.”According to Statistics Canada, an average of 102 women and girls across Canada were victims of gender-related homicide each year from 2011 to 2021.Statistics Canada says 93 per cent of those homicides were committed by a male intimate partner or family member of the victim.MacDougall said advocates have not yet seen the full bill and are still waiting to understand how the federal changes will be applied on the ground.Sharma said the federal changes are historic and will make a difference.”The Criminal Code and our legal system must clearly and unequivocally reflect the seriousness of hurting an intimate partner.” With files from CBC’s Tanushi Bhatnagar
B.C. announces new measures to combat intimate partner violence
