Canadian Criminal Justice System

Domestic abuse intersections or race and ethnicity, social class, gay and lesbian battering, and gender asymmetry provide various actions the Canadian criminal justice systems can take to assist in reducing the socially structured invisibility of certain victims, and their reluctance to use the criminal justice system. The criminal justice framework in Canada respond to domestic violence pro-charging and pro- prosecution policies, dual arrest –when the police are unable to ascertain the ‘primary aggressor’ and thus arrest both parties, mandatory offender treatment programs, and no drop prosecution and the incarceration of offenders (Abraham and Tastsoglou 6). However, Canadian criminal justice system’s response does not incorporate special
vulnerabilities to domestic violence of immigrant and racialized women, which are due to the systemic intersections of their gender with race, ethnicity, class, faith practice, immigration, and social status in Canada (Abraham and Tastsoglou 2016, p. 6).
In contrast, the Canadian government has had significant advances in this field.
Specifically, the Criminal Code of Canada in the 1990s sought to improve the legal response to domestic and intimate partner violence. In 1996, the use of formal ‘Alternative Measures’ programs covered specific conditions. Additionally, ‘restorative justice’ models were presented and practiced in and among First Nations communities (Abraham & Tastsoglou, 2016, p. 6). Building of Tam et al.’s research, one significant aspect the Canadian government should update and actively watch is a long-term intervention to assist women from racialized groups to live without their partner buy developing a program to develop language and employment skills so they can live independently. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) constructs many women who are entering Canada as being the legal dependents of male sponsors and can help. In Ontario, there is currently a company called ACCES Employment, that has a goal is to assist job seekers from diverse, backgrounds, who are facing barriers to employment, to integrate into the Canadian job market. It is committed to the removal of social barriers that hinder historically disadvantaged groups from fully developing themselves. This program can assist in helping immigrant women who depend on their spouse to make a living for themselves after domestic abuse. There are locations around Ontario that can help these women attain language training, job-specific
language training, and finding a job.
The Canadian government has made significant progress in addressing the socially structured invisibility of certain victims. However, there is a long way to go before the criminal justice system and informal controls can encompass all intersections that specialize women in domestic violence. One step the Canadian government can take is to expand public education to focus on abandoning myths of women accepting and tolerating physical violence and being the passive partner in a relationship. The system should attempt to dismantle and understand various ethno-cultural communities that are different than one’s own. Additionally, education should emphasize anti-violence and equal right through the knowledge of Anti-Violence and Feminist Movements. (Abraham & Tastsoglou, 2016, p. 11).
Another step the Canadian government can take would be to develop more community-based alternatives, which the services are accessible to minority women of low-income.
Immigrant and women abuse agencies “should work together more closely on intervention, prevention, and public education. Access to services for low-income minority women living in isolated circumstances needs to be increased” (Abraham & Tastsoglou, 2016, p. 11). If service providers consider working with women in informal social support networks, it can give them emotional and instrumental support outside of the criminal justice system. This is important specifically with the marginalized women who chose not to address her concerns with the criminal justice system. These services can help marginalized women become independent with education, affordable housing, and health
care.
The Canadian criminal justice system must take steps that serve abused women based on who is a good client and who can help meet state mandated outcomes and funding goals (Abraham & Tastsoglou, 2016, p. 11). Government funding possibilities can be enhanced if more research is done in the intersections that make a woman’s domestic abuse special.