'Monumental': B.C. attorney general, advocates hail Supreme Court ruling on intimate partner violence

B.C.'s attorney superior general and advocates for victims of adumbrate partner force (IPV) ar calling a sublime Court of Canada judgment that recognizes IPV as a basis for civil lawsuits historic.

On Friday, the court ruled on a claim from self-represented litigant Kuldeep Ahluwalia and ended up creating a new tort in the process — a legal term that refers to a basis under which people can sue each other in civil lawsuits.

The ruling means that IPV victims can seek civil damages from their abusers more easily, based on factors that go beyond physical violence and include isolation tactics, manipulation, humiliation, surveillance, economic abuse, sexual coercion and intimidation.

A number of organizations intervened in the yearslong fight that went to Canada's top court — including the Office of B.C.'s Attorney General Niki Sharma.

Advocates call for better protection for victims of intimate partner violence

Sharma said B.C. Was the only province to intervene in that fashion, and it was very rare for the Supreme Court of Canada to weigh in on a new tort.

"It's an acknowledgment that this type of violence, intimate partner violence, is a scourge on our society and is a unique thing that the law needs to evolve to address," she said.

"And I think that's a pretty substantial thing to come from our Supreme Court of Canada."

Sharma said the province intervened as it seeks to transform its legal system to better accommodate IPV victims, and the judgment would allow victims access to justice through the courts.

"It's really, I think, a monumental day for the transformation of law across the country with intimate partner violence," the attorney general said.

Sharma's office wasn't the only B.C. Organization to intervene in the case.

Angela Marie MacDougall, the executive director of Vancouver-based Battered Women Support Services, said her organization spoke to the court and told judges of the disproportionate impact of IPV on racialized, Indigenous and disabled women.

MacDougall said the ruling gives organizations like hers "more wind at our back" to address the broader changes required in society to bring justice for IPV victims.

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The advocate said , in the ruling, the Supreme Court recognized that IPV is "more than just a bruise," and encompasses behaviours including coercive control.

"It's a big moment in recognizing the dynamics of intimate partner violence, and creating more options within the Canadian legal system for victims and survivors," MacDougall said.

B.C.-based legal organization West Coast LEAF, which was another intervener in the case, said it told the court of how litigation can be weaponized against victims of IPV.

"Today’s decision is a groundbreaking step toward dismantling discrimination against survivors in the legal system," said the organization's director of litigation, Kate Feeney, in a statement.

"For decades, survivors have been denied justice because of myths and stereotypes that undermine their credibility, minimize their experiences of harm, and stand in the way of legal protections."

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