Justice system must 'change at its roots' for domestic and sexual violence, experts say

WARNING: This article contains details of abuse.

Cassandre spent 12 years in a relationship full of physical and psychological abuse without filing a complaint to police, worried she wouldn't be taken seriously.

"If only you knew how many times I considered reporting the violence, but didn't out of fear it would make it worse," she said at a news conference about the 12 days of action against domestic violence — which remembers the victims of Montreal's Polytechnique shooting — Wednesday.

After an incident that made her fear for her and her son's lives last February, she met with two female police officers who accompanied her through the justice system with regular check-ins and gave her updates on her case.

Cassandre, whose identity is protected as a victim of domestic abuse, says she left that first meeting feeling reassured, supported and with several emergency phone numbers and resources — all of which motivated her to continue the complaint process.

"Thanks to them I decided to take this to the end, meaning going to court against this man," Cassandre said. "I finally see the light at the end of this awful ordeal."

A new report looking into gender-based violence in Quebec says more victims of violence need that kind of support and for that to happen, the justice system has to change at its roots.

The report showed that women who had proper support were more likely to go through the criminal processes.

But not every complainant has the same experience as Cassandre.

A group of academics and community organizations followed 52 women who experienced violence in 10 regions of Quebec over six years. Most of the women said the legal proceedings were either too intimidating, complicated or lengthy for them to get real justice.

None of the women said they would recommend others go through the complaint process.

Indigenous, racialized, LGBTQ+, disabled and immigrant women were even less likely to report gender-based violence or go through the legal process.

What surprised the researchers is that police, lawyers, social workers and judges also acknowledged the justice system's shortcomings.

"​​No matter the perspective from where you look at it … Everybody thinks that the system could do much better," said Rachel Gagnon, the co-lead researcher of the report and professor of judicial scientists at Université du Québec à Montréal.