Sask. adds cyberstalking, coercive control to definition of interpersonal violence

New legislation in Saskatchewan means victims of cyberstalking and coercive control can access the same support systems as victims of physical violence.

The Cyberstalking and Coercive Control Act adds those two categories to Victims of Interpersonal Violence Act, which protects victims through emergency restraining orders and includes a process for ending long-term tenancy agreements when a risk of future violence is identified.

Read more:

• ‘We’re going to stand with the victims’: Saskatoon Intimate Partner Violence team removing barriers
• Dating relationships make up majority of intimate partner violence reports in Sask.

The new legislation is expected to take effect next week after receiving approval from Saskatchewan’s lieutenant-governor.

“This bill makes clear that victims and survivors of these types of abuse are entitled to protections under our laws, while increasing accountability for the perpetrators of such acts,” Tim McLeod, Saskatchewan’s justice minister and attorney general, said in a statement.

The provincial government said it defines coercive control as “a pattern of behaviour that seeks to take away a person’s freedom and strip away their sense of self,” and said it can include things like financial control, depriving a person of basic needs, isolating them from family and friends, or closely monitoring their activities.

“The addition of cyberstalking and coercive control to the legislation clearly identifies this conduct as a form of interpersonal violence and provides legislative support to victims,” the justice ministry statement said.

“Expanding the definition of interpersonal violence to include cyberstalking bolsters provisions found in the Criminal Code, and addresses instances where individuals use or attempt to use tracking devices to monitor an individual without their consent.”

While passing the new legislation is “a step in the right direction,” the government acknowledged that more work needs to be done, and said it “will continue to advance that work to end interpersonal violence.”

Read more:

• ‘We’re going to stand with the victims’: Saskatoon Intimate Partner Violence team removing barriers
• Dating relationships make up majority of intimate partner violence reports in Sask.