Changes to domestic violence legislation aim to better help women, children

REGINA – Between 400 and 500 reports of domestic violence cross the desks at Family Service Regina every month. Many of the victims are women with children.

Amendments to the Victims of Domestic Violence Act tabled in the fall will go into effect this spring, but victims fleeing abuse need all the help they can get.

“I was constantly called a whore. I was a slut.”

After 11 years in an abusive relationship, there came a breaking point for a woman we’ll call Jill.

“He’d hit me on many occasions,” Jill said.

The father of Jill’s three children has a history of violence, including being convicted of assault against Jill when she was pregnant. More allegations of physical and verbal abuse against her and their kids are before the courts in an ongoing custody battle.

Jill would prefer his time with the children was supervised. “They don’t want to go,” she said. “Every time a visit comes I have children that are crying and don’t want to get out of the vehicle.”

Saskatchewan has the highest rate of family violence in the country – almost double the national average. Supervised parental visits are at the discretion of a judge.

“We’ve seen many situations that certainly should from our perspective, from the victim’s perspective should have been supervised, but that order was not made in court,” said Jen Renwick with the Family Service Regina domestic violence unit.

“You don’t want to encourage people to scream victim to benefit them in other ways in a family case,” said Regina-based family lawyer, Charlene Richmond.

Richmond suggested options for counseling for both partners could help solve problems before they go to court.

“There’s a lot of social dynamics that come into play and the legal system isn’t the best place to deal with those issues and really the courtroom is the place of last resort,” said Richmond.

New changes to Victim Services include more money to reimburse victims. Crisis intervention is also being expanded across the province.

“It’s to support them through the criminal justice program, including the court process and certainly to ensure that they’re safe and to find a place of safety as well,” explained Pat Thiele, acting executive director of the Community Justice Division with the Ministry of Justice.

“I want other people who may be out there in my same situation to know that they’re not alone,” said Jill.

The Ministry of Justice is also looking at initiatives going on in other provinces, like those announced in Ontario last week which include providing more legal assistance to victims whose cases go to criminal trial.