Spousal abuse, including physical violence, psychological abuse, financial abuse and intimidation, is a pervasive problem in Canada. Statistics Canada reports that nearly half of all women and a third of all men have experienced abusive conduct in a domestic relationship.
While “cruelty” has long been a grounds for divorce between married couples, the award of monetary damages for spousal abuse has been relatively rare. However, recent Ontario court cases have made it clear that courts will punish abusers with monetary damages awards where cases merit.
In the 2024 case of Wang v. Li, 2024 ONCA 819, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a trial judge’s award of $75,000 in damages for physical and psychological abuse of a wife. The trial judge found that the husband had pointed a gun at the wife’s head, driven erratically with her in the vehicle and threatened to harm her and her daughter if she did not pay his expenses or give him money. A psychotherapist and a psychiatrist testified about the stress, depression and emotional trauma the wife continued to suffer because of both the ongoing legal proceedings and the abuse she had suffered during the marriage.
In the 2023 of Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia, 2023 ONCA 476, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a trial judge’s award of $100,000 in damages against a husband who had subjected his wife to long history of physical violence (including restraining and slapping her) and “a pattern of conditioning and control” that included insulting and belittling her about her appearance and her difficulties conceiving a child, subjecting her to months of “silent treatment” and repeatedly threatened to leave her financially destitute.
The court of appeal has held that spouses who have been victims of intimate partner violence, can plead the following types of claims (known as “torts” in civil legal proceedings):
Battery – involves directly “interfering” with someone’s person. Examples could include, slapping, punching, shoving, throwing objects or driving a vehicle into someone. The interference must be:
- “direct” in that it is the immediate consequence of the batterer’s force; and
- serious and not “trivial”.
Assault – takes place when someone intentionally makes a victim afraid of offensive contact. A verbal threat to harm the victim (“you’re gonna get it”), a physical gesture that creates such fear (e.g. shaking a fist or raising a hand as if to strike), or the creation of an atmosphere of fear (e.g. where the victim is afraid to receive a compliment from someone or ask someone of the opposite sex for help out of fear of provoking the spouse’s jealousy) are some examples of assault.
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress – has three elements: (i) the abuser’s conduct must be “flagrant and outrageous”; (ii) the conduct must be calculated to harm; and (iii) the conduct must cause the plaintiff to suffer a visible and provable illness, which could include depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Sexual Assault – is non-consensual touching that violates the sexual integrity of the complainant. In Jane Doe 72511 v. Morgan, 2018 ONSC 6607, the court found that repeated non-consensual sexual contact within an intimate relationship constituted sexual assault.
Other types of intimate partner violence can include harassment and breaches of a victim’s privacy through such tactics as posting (or threatening to post) sensitive information or photos on line. Unfortunately, the types of abuse are many and varied.
What to do if you are the victim of abuse?
- Seek safety and treatment
- Seek advice from experts, including the police, counsellors and legal counsel
- Preserve evidence of your abuse
- Consider whether you should bring a legal claim.