Victims of Crime Research Digest No. 13

Developing a Family Violence Identification and Response Tool

By Bianca Stumpf, Jenny Larkin, and Cherami Wichmann

Introduction

Family violence continues to be a highly troubling social and legal problem in Canada. Family violence (see definition below) can cause significant short- and long-term emotional, physical, social, and financial issues for victims. Efforts to respond to family violence have been underway for decades in many sectors. Given the high social, emotional and economic costs of family violence to Canadians, it remains important to continue to find effective and efficient ways to identify and respond to this socio-legal phenomenon.

The Chief Public Health Officer's Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2016 - A Focus on Family Violence in Canada documented the following facts in Canada:

Statistics on intimate partner violence (IPV)Footnote 57 indicate that in 2018, Canada had a rate of 325 victims of IPV (male and female) per 100,000 population (Conroy et al. 2019). IPV represented close to one-third (30%) of all victims of police-reported violent crime in Canada in 2018 (Conroy et al. 2019). According to a study by the Department of Justice (Justice Canada), the total economic impact of spousal violence in Canada in 2009 was estimated at $7.4 billion, amounting to $220 per Canadian (Zhang et al. 2012).

Family law legal advisersFootnote 58 (FLLAs) play an important role in addressing family violence because they are often the first person clients meet when they enter the family law system. That is why Justice Canada is developing a family violence identification and response tool (the tool) to assist FLLAs in identifying family violence and responding to it safely and effectively in the context of a legal adviser-client interview. The tool’s goal is to promote safe and appropriate outcomes for families that help to prevent family violence and support healthy relationships.

This article provides recent data on IPV and other forms of family violence and some of the challenges associated with addressing it. It also presents an overview of the tool and its development.

What is Family Violence?

In Canada, family violence includes violence against children and youth, among siblings, against intimate partners, and against seniors. Recently passed federal legislation, An Act to amend the Divorce Act, the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act and the Garnishment, Attachment and Pension Diversion Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act (former Bill C-78),Footnote 59 amended the Divorce ActFootnote 60 to include a broad, evidence-based definition of family violence. It defines family violence as:

[A]ny conduct, whether or not the conduct constitutes a criminal offence, by a family member towards another family member, that is violent or threatening or that constitutes a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour or that causes that other family member to fear for their own safety or for that of another person – and in the case of a child, the direct or indirect exposure to such conduct – and includes…

  1. physical abuse, including forced confinement but excluding the use of reasonable force to protect themselves or another person;
  2. sexual abuse;
  3. threats to kill or cause bodily harm to any person;
  4. harassment, including stalking;
  5. the failure to provide the necessaries of life;
  6. psychological abuse;
  7. financial abuse;
  8. threats to kill or harm an animal or damage property; and
  9. the killing or harming of an animal or the damaging of property.

The tool described in this article focuses on violence against intimate partners and exposure of children to IPV.

Intimate Partner Violence in Canada

IPV refers to violence that occurs between current and former partners who may or may not live together (Conroy et al. 2019). Statistics Canada’s Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile, 2018 (Conroy et al. 2019) highlights a number of key points about IPV:

The Ontario Domestic Violence Death Review Committee’s 2018 Annual Report shows that a history of IPV and an actual or pending separation are risk factors for intimate partner homicide. Between 2003 and 2018, the Committee reviewed 329 cases, involving 470 deaths.Footnote 62 It found that about 71% of the cases involved a couple with a history of intimate domestic violence, and about 67% involved a couple with an actual or pending separation (Office of the Chief Coroner 2019, 3).

Research also shows that IPV can have short- and long-term negative effects on victims and their children (Zhang et al. 2012). For example, victims of IPV can experience mental health problems, such as post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, hyper-vigilance, and panic disorder (Neilson 2013). Victims can also experience short- and long-term physical health, social, and financial issues.

Overall, data continue to show that:

Challenges of Addressing Family Violence in Family Law Cases

Because FLLAs play an important role in addressing family violence, it is important that they be able to identify and respond to that violence.

The following three issues, among others, continue to create challenges for FLLAs:

Lack of Screening Tools
A recent review of 86 family violence screening tools/procedures showed that lawyers in Canada do not have universal, standardized family violence screening tools/procedures available to them (Cross et al. 2018). If such a tool/procedure were available, it could provide accurate and consistent information about victims’ exposure to family violence (Cross et al. 2018; Northcott 2012).

Despite lacking such a tool, some lawyers report that they do screen for family violence. A survey of lawyers at the 2016 National Family Law Program showed that more than two-thirds of survey respondents “often or almost always screen for family violence” (Bertrand et al. 2016, 50; italics original). Yet over half of lawyers (53.1%) also said that they “never use a standardized measure or instrument to screen for family violence, and another 25.5% said that they rarely do so” (Bertrand et al. 2016, 80). These survey findings show that lawyers are willing to screen for family violence, though few use a standardized measure or instrument to do so.

Many FLLAs have limited knowledge about family violence
Research frequently finds that many lawyers and other legal advisers have limited knowledge about family violence (Cross et al. 2018). Family violence does not necessarily end when a relationship ends. It may continue or even intensify during and after separation. Also, the risk of intimate partner homicide increases during this period. Thus, it is especially important for lawyers who take on family law cases to understand how family violence works. Separation and divorce can provide lawyers an opportunity to identify and deal with family violence. Family members who disclose their experience of family violence to their legal advisers could be given the support, services, and legal interventions they need to help keep them and their children safe (Cross et al. 2018).

Victims may be reluctant to disclose violence or abuse
Cross et al. (2018) noted that several studies have shown that victims “do not readily disclose their history of abuse to anyone, particularly people they do not know, including lawyers” for a variety of reasons (2018, 15). Research has also found that asking victims of family violence specific questions about abusive behaviours (e.g., has the other partner ever hit you?) helps to identify family violence (Cross et al. 2018). These findings highlight how important it is to develop a tool that supports legal advisers in asking clients questions about specific behaviours that can confirm family violence.

Overall, these findings point to the need for supports that can help FLLAs identify and respond to family violence. By developing a tool that includes questions that ask about specific behaviours, Justice Canada ultimately aims to help FLLAs support victims to disclose their experience of family violence. Using that information will help FLLAs recommend the most appropriate arrangements and legal remedies that “reflect the best interests of the children, the legal rights of the parties and the safety of [family violence] survivors” (Cross et al. 2018, 5).

Federal Government Tools and Resources to Help Address Family Violence

The Government of Canada has funded a range of research projects to support health and social service professionals, and legal professionals, to help address family violence in Canada. For instance, the Public Health Agency of Canada funded a research team at McMaster University for a five-year project, entitled Violence, Evidence, Guidance, Action (or VEGA).Footnote 64 This team developed evidence-based resources for health and social service providers to educate them about child maltreatment, IPV, and children's exposure to IPV. As part of this project, the research team developed a framework for recognizing and responding safely to family violence, which includes learning modules (e.g., care pathways, scripts, how-to videos), interactive educational scenarios and a printable handbook.

Justice Canada has conducted research projects on family violence, such as developing a tool to assess the risk of IPV, entitled The Development of the Brief Spousal Assault Form for the Evaluation of Risk (B-SAFER): A Tool for Criminal Justice Professionals. This tool was developed by the British Columbia Institute Against Family Violence in 2005 to provide a shorter alternative to existing tools in the field (Kropp and Hart 2004). It is currently used by criminal justice professionals, including police, in many jurisdictions in Canada.

Justice Canada has also created a list of tools for assessing IPV, entitled the Inventory of Spousal Violence Risk Assessment Tools Used in Canada. This inventory was first published in 2009, and updated and republished in 2013. It details tools used by criminal justice professionals in each province and territory to assess the risk of violence to a spouse. Justice Canada is once again updating this inventory.

What is the Family Violence Identification and Response Tool?

In collaboration with JUSJustice Canada’ Family Law and Youth Justice Policy Section, the Research and Statistics Division is developing a tool to help support FLLA in safely identifying and responding to family violence. The tool is being developed to take into account trauma and violence-informed principles and to provide guidance on how to incorporate culturally safe practices (see Text Box 1 below) in identifying and responding to family violence. This project aligns with the Government of Canada’s Family Violence Initiative and is drawing on the expertise of many experts in the fields of family violence and family law.

What is cultural safety?

Cultural safety is a key element of the tool, which aims to draw FLLAs attention to the way that social, economic, historical and political contexts, as well as institutional and interpersonal racism shape individuals’ experiences (Browne et al. 2018). The tool will provide guidance for FLLAs on how to acknowledge their own biases and increase their awareness of and self-reflection on the pervasiveness and impacts that these power imbalances and inequitable social relationships can have on their clients (Browne et al. 2018). For instance, FLLAs should recognize that cultural safety depends on what safety means to their clients.

As an example, cultural safety education can help equip FLLAs with the awareness that some Indigenous clients may not feel comfortable reporting violence to the police due to systemic and colonial racism that perpetuates police misconceptions about Indigenous people and Indigenous overrepresentation in the criminal justice system.

The tool will include instructions for FLLAs on how to identify family violence and respond to a client who is disclosing their experience of family violence.

It will provide:

User-Centred Development and Collaboration

The methodology to develop this project tool involves a user-centred and collaborative approach. Justice Canada is working with the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Department of Women and Gender Equality Canada, and a Justice Canada-convened advisory group of experts in family law and family violence. The collaborative process also involves front line providers who work with diverse clients as well as subject matter experts in areas such as methodology, family violence cases in criminal and/or family law, cultural safety, and trauma and violence-informed practices.

A review of the tool will also be undertaken by FLLAs both those who take on family violence cases and those who do not, along with usability testing of a selected group of FLLAs. Longer-term testing plans include collecting feedback from family law clients. This testing will help to ensure that the tool is comprehensive and useful. Longer term testing provides the project team with the opportunity to gather preliminary data on the impacts of identifying and responding to family violence on various actors involved in the family law system.

Limitations of the Tool

It is acknowledged that this tool cannot be customized for specific groups at this point, but the inclusion of cultural safety elements is an important first step for this work. This project aims to gather the perspectives of diverse individuals, where possible, though it will not be possible to address the needs of all groups in the first release of the tool. However, it is anticipated that following the first release of the tool, more comprehensive testing and validation work could be undertaken. There are also plans for exploring how this tool could be adapted or redesigned to address the unique needs of different populations, such as Indigenous peoples.

The tool is designed to provide concrete guidance for FLLAs who have little to no experience handling cases that involve family violence. We anticipate that the tool will also be useful for FLLAs with more experience who may be interested in refreshing their knowledge and/or reviewing the tool for new ideas, approaches or learning opportunities.

It is important to note that the tool is not designed to replace training for FLLAs related to identifying and responding to family violence. While the tool will contain helpful information for FLLAs to consider and incorporate into their practices, the tool does not describe all of the complexities of family violence.

Conclusion

Family violence remains an ongoing problem in Canada. FLLAs play an important role in identifying and responding to family violence. They can help to reduce the risks of family violence, including intimate partner homicide, that some of their clients may experience. A universal, standardized family violence identification and response tool/procedure in Canada can help address this gap.

References

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