Charging an Abuser

In Ontario, police and Crown counsel operate under a provincial government directive requiring that a charge be laid wherever there is any evidence that a domestic assault has occurred. Being married does not protect an abuser. A husband can be charged with sexually assaulting his wife. Given that men are generally the assaulters and women generally the assaultees, it stands to reason that men are more often charged than women. Your partner can also be charged and prosecuted for past episodes of violence.

This directive was issued so that women would not be the ones deciding whether or not a charge should be laid. Leaving such a decision to the victim would clearly compromise her safety at the hands of her assaulter/partner and leave her susceptible to being coerced into dropping the charges.

These goals may or may not have been achieved through the use of this directive. Certainly more charges are laid now, but women remain vulnerable to their assaulters. While they cannot be coerced into dropping the charges because that is a decision to be made by the Crown alone, they can be coerced, particularly where there is a history or fear of violence, into changing their testimony and denying the statement given to the police at the time of the assault. Technically, women can end up being charged themselves, with mischief or obstructing justice, if they recant on the witness stand what they have told the police in their original statement.

This directive and others like it across Canada are guided by a general societal commitment to ending violence against women and children. Even so, wife assault remains a significantly under-reported crime. Almost always a woman is assaulted many times before there is police involvement, so when the man is charged it is unlikely to be the first assault of the relationship. Charges too often result in a guilty plea to a lesser charge and a minimal penalty for the perpetrator.

Where the charge proceeds to a trial and results in a finding of guilt, penalties are still generally in the "slap on the wrist" category unless the accused is a many-time repeat offender. Probation is the most likely sentence, but probation officers are overworked and are not able to maintain an adequate level of supervision. There is a dearth of appropriate counselling available to men, even if they are ordered by the judge to participate. Increasingly, Crowns attempt to "mediate" by sending first time charges to alternative dispute resolution or by asking the victim if she would accept having the charge withdrawn if the perpetrator consents to a peace bond.

What happens if my partner breaks a condition?
If your partner does not obey the conditions, call the police. He may be charged with another criminal offence known as “breach of recognizance” or “failure to comply with a condition of undertaking or recognizance”.

What if the police do not lay charges?
If the police do not lay charges, ask them why. Ask to speak to another officer, such as the officer in charge of the station or the domestic violence co-ordinator if there is one. If you are not satisfied with their response, make a note of their names and badge numbers. You can
make a complaint to the Ontario Civilian Commission of Police Services. You should get advice from a lawyer or a community legal clinic before you do this.

Laying a charge yourself
You can lay a charge against your partner yourself for an assault that has just happened or that occurred in the past, whether or not the police were called at the time. If the police were called and they did not lay a charge, they should have made an “occurrence report”. You can use this report to lay a charge yourself, but you do not need to have one to lay a charge. Act as soon as possible after the assault because the court may question why you waited. There is usually a six-month deadline to lay the charge.

To lay a charge, you must see a Justice of the Peace. Call your local courthouse or look in the government blue pages of your phone book under Courts/Ontario Courts/Justices of the Peace, to find out where to go. Try to get there as early in the morning as possible because people are seen in the order that they arrive. You will have to tell the Justice of the Peace what happened. Be as specific and detailed as possible about the events that are the subject of the charge. If
you kept a written record, refer to it to refresh your memory. If you were threatened, try to provide the exact words used in the threat. Bring any other evidence you have such as photos, tape recordings, or medical reports. Tell the Justice of the Peace if there were any witnesses.
The Justice of the Peace will give you a date to appear in court to explain why you want to lay a
charge. If you have witnesses, you can bring them on that date. If they are not able or willing to go, tell the Justice of the Peace about them.

References

ONTARIO WOMEN'S JUSTICE NETWORK 158 Spadina Road, Toronto, ON Canada M5R 2T8