Change to definition of violence not enough to protect victims, says advocate

Protecting victims of abuse is going to take more than a meatier definition of family violence, according to the executive director of Iris Kirby House.

• Expanded family violence definition, changes to Schools Act announced in 2018 throne speech

Michelle Greene, head of the women's shelter, said expanding the definition to includeemotional, psychological and financial abuse won't necessarily increase access to emergency protection orders,like the province's throne speech suggested Tuesday.

She said courts in the past have denied physical and sexual violence victims from getting emergency protection orders, even though that type of abuse has long been covered under the current definition of violence.

"The emergency protection orders are not working as well as we need them to for the definitions that already exist,"

"We've got to fix what we've got before the expansion of the definition is going to matter in that regard."

When granted, emergency protection orders prohibit abusers from contacting their victims for upwards of 90 days.

It's a long process and Greene said the final decision is at the judge's discretion.

"Hopefully when they open up the [Family Violence Protection] Act, there will be more than just the expansion of the definition."

Change good for education

The benefit to expanding the violence definition is the educational opportunity, according to Greene.

"Oftentimes when you hear about domestic violence, the first thing that comes to your mind is the physical violence or even the sexual violence," she said. "I think it's far time we helped people understand that the emotional violence and the psychological and the financial is just as important."

Those types of abuse can be present before any physical abuse occurs.

Greene said with a better understanding of what constitutes abuse, victims can better recognize mistreatment and get out before the situation worsens.

"People who get into a domestic violence relationship, they don't start off dating a guy who hits them," Greene said. "They start off dating a guy who's kind and loving and caring and it becomes insidious."