British Columbia Attorney General Niki Sharma is welcoming proposed changes to Canada’s Criminal Code aimed at toughening laws around intimate partner violence.
The Protecting Victims Act, tabled by federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser, would classify hate-motivated murders as first degree, including those that occur alongside controlling or coercive behaviour of an intimate partner, sexual violence or exploitation. The act would also create a new criminal offence related to patterns of coercive or controlling behaviour.
The legislation would provide guidance for courts on how to deal with delays, so that fewer cases are dismissed because of lengthy procedural issues. Other measures aim to improve survivors’ access to information about their case and make testimonial aids more accessible.
“These are historic changes that I believe will make a difference,” said Sharma on Tuesday. “The criminal code and our legal system must clearly and unequivocally reflect the seriousness of hurting an intimate partner.”
Other proposed changes would prohibit the distribution of non-consensual sexual deepfakes, increase penalties for the distribution of intimate images without consent, prohibit threats to distribute such images, and increase penalties for sexual assault on summary conviction.
The act also includes tougher penalties for child predators and measures to address online sexploitation and child luring.
Sharma said the legislation reflects many of the changes B.C. has been advocating for.
In June, an independent report by Dr. Kim Stanton, former head of the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, said gender‑based violence should be declared an epidemic in B.C. The report made 21 recommendations to improve how B.C.’s legal and justice system handles such cases.
The province recently released a fall update, saying it has made progress on 13 of those recommendations.
It says three priority actions for the government moving forward will be updating policy guidance related to intimate partner and sexual violence, implementing consistent risk assessments across the B.C. legal system to help prevent repeat violence, and developing an internal accountability mechanism to monitor the province’s progress on the recommendations.
B.C.’s Violence Against Women in Relationships Policy currently serves as guidance for those working with victims of intimate partner violence, but it hasn’t been significantly updated since 2010.
The Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability says 137 women and girls have been killed by violence so far this year, including 27 in B.C.
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