A recent Ontario Court of Appeal case, Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia1 established the newest tort in Canadian law: intimate partner violence1.
What is a tort?
A tort is a civil wrong that causes harm, loss, or injury to another person. When a tort is committed, the injured person may have a legal claim and can seek compensation through the courts.
Torts may be intentional or unintentional and can involve physical injury, emotional harm, or damage to property. Prior to Ahluwalia, victims of intimate partner violence generally had to rely on existing torts, such as battery, assault, or intentional infliction of emotional distress, to seek compensation for the harm they suffered.
Existing torts addressed individual incidents of harm but failed to consider the ongoing pattern of coercive control present in intimate partner violence. The SCC therefore recognized a new tort of intimate partner violence to address harms that existing torts could not fully capture.
What is the tort of intimate partner violence?
Intimate partner violence includes abusive conduct that one partner uses to control the other, ultimately taking away their independence and ability to make their own decisions. It includes both physical and psychological abuse but is centred around coercive control. Rather than a single incident, coercive control is a pattern of behaviour that develops over time and continues throughout the relationship.
As outlined in Ahluwalia, conduct that may be considered coercive control can include:
- Physical and sexual violence;
- Emotional and psychological abuse, including verbal abuse;
- Harassment, humiliation, and denigration;
- Financial control, stalking, and surveillance;
- Behaviour that isolates a partner from others or denies them access to educational, employment, or recreational opportunities;
- Litigation abuse; and
- Threatening conduct, including threats to harm or remove children or threats to commit suicide.
In Ahluwalia, the husband started divorce proceedings after a 16-year marriage. Throughout the marriage, the wife experienced years of abuse and coercive control. During the proceedings, she sought damages for the abuse she suffered. The SCC concluded that coercive control causes a unique form of harm that extends beyond the injuries recognized by traditional torts and therefore recognized the tort of intimate partner violence.
If you have experienced intimate partner violence or coercive control, you may be wondering whether you have a legal claim for the harm you have suffered. In our next post, we’ll explain who may bring a claim, what must be proven, how a claim is made, and what compensation may be available.