The Criminalization of Coercive Control in Canada: Conceptualizations, Cautions, and Caveats.

Authors

Stephanie Ehret, Eden Hoffer

Published in

Violence against women. Pages 10778012261465656. Jul 08, 2026. Epub Jul 08, 2026.

Abstract

This paper critically examines whether criminalizing coercive control in Canada would improve legal responses to intimate partner violence or reproduce/perpetuate the "ideal victim" trap. Using Evan Stark's conceptualization of coercive control and Nils Christie's "ideal victim" concept as lenses, we conduct a theory-informed case study of two landmark self-defence cases to examine the sociolegal recognition of coercive control. Despite expanded discourse, the decisions largely remained incident-centered. We argue for a trauma and violence-informed approach (building on the work of Wathen & Varcoe), and, should coercive control be criminalized, we recommend delaying implementation until adequate cross-sector social service infrastructure is in place.

PMID:
42417087
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 08 Jul 2026.

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