Justice committee  Absolutely. At the end of the day, for me it's an opportunity to criminalize behaviour, and it's behaviour that is obviously unacceptable. It's abusive. We believe that any learned abusive behaviour can be unlearned, but this is one way to hold the abusive person accountable. Coupled with that there needs to be training and counselling services for all family members who are impacted by domestic violence, including the abusive person, because we know that if you provide help to him, that behaviour can change and that will make a difference, so it's all of it.

Justice committee  Yes, we do see it. We don't see it often, actually. We see the other weapons more: knives and, really, any weapon. I would say we that see more of the knives, the bats and sometimes boots. It could be anything and everything, which is surprising. We don't see a lot of guns, but certainly it does happen.

Justice committee  It's definitely the majority. We get about 3,000 calls a year. We see on average about 300 women and 250 kids in the shelter. Again, with limited capacity we've had to turn some women away because we are underserviced in our area. However, I would say it's the majority and our data would support that, and I think the research probably supports that too.

Justice committee  As you know, the national action plan of violence against women is currently in development, so I think somehow...because all the systems have to work together. We know there's a disconnect between the criminal court system, the family court system and the community-based agencies.

Justice committee  Very often. In fact, the common denominator is the controlling behaviours, the psychological abuse, the isolation. Especially with COVID, that has just amplified it. Pre-COVID and in the years that I've worked with women in abusive relationships, that is very common right from the stalking to the....

Justice committee  It's my privilege. Thank you.

Justice committee  From our experience, we know that initially the violence starts off very subtly. We see the isolation and the psychological abuse, and over time it does escalate. I've been working in this field and with women for 22 years, and I learn from the women with lived experiences. I used to work in London and now I work in Windsor and Essex Country.

Justice committee  In terms of what we saw initially in Windsor-Essex during the first phase of COVID, it was quiet. Our crisis calls from women who were reaching out and wanting to access shelter were quiet—to the point where it was scary that they weren't reaching out. I think this was because there were so many unknowns and fear and the fact that they are being told to stay home, not knowing what was happening with COVID and the mixed messaging.

Justice committee  Thank you, everyone. As the clinical director of residential and community services at Hiatus House in Windsor-Essex, Ontario, I really appreciate the opportunity to speak with all of you with respect to Bill C-247. Our mission at Hiatus House is to break the cycle of domestic violence, one family at a time, by providing 24-hour crisis help and emergency shelter to abused women and their children.