Skip to content | Skip to institutional links

Common menu bar links

Institutional links

Family Violence Initiative

Family Violence Publications

Policy
Public Legal Education and Information
Research
Project Funding
Evaluation

(* = not available in print format)

Policy

Harassment: a Handbook for Police and Crown Prosecutors, 2nd Edition (March 2004): Guidelines for police, Crown prosecutors and other criminal justice personnel. The guidelines cover the investigation, charging and prosecution of criminal harassment cases – usually called "stalking." A previous version of these guidelines was published in December 1999.; English: HTML, PDF

Family Violence Initiative: Year Five Report (2004)

The Family Violence Initiative: Year Five Report is a summary of the most notable accomplishments achieved by the Government of Canada during the first five years of the current Family Violence Initiative (1997-2002). It provides information from case studies, departmental performance reports and reviews, as well as evaluation studies. In addition, the Report outlines priorities for future activities under the Family Violence Initiative.

English: HTML, PDF

Spousal Abuse Policies and Legislation: Final Report of the Ad Hoc Federal-Provincial-Territorial Working Group Reviewing Spousal Abuse Policies and Legislation (April 2003)

This working group reviewed and reported on:

mandatory charging and prosecutorial policies in Canada
proposed criminal law reforms
innovative structures and models to address family violence
availability of support programs for victims and their children

English: HTML, PDF

Custody, Access and Child Support in Canada - Putting Children's Interests First (Consultation paper and report) (2001)

In Canada, family law is an area of joint federal, provincial and territorial responsibility. In April 2001, federal, provincial and territorial governments conducted a consultation process to give Canadians the opportunity to share their views with governments on custody, access and child support issues. Amongst other issues, this process considered the impact that past or present family violence should have in determining the roles and responsibilities of parents at their time of separation or divorce.

English: HTML

Second Federal/Provincial/Territorial Forum on Spousal Abuse Cases (March 2001)

Summary of presentations at this forum. Senior officials from policing, prosecutions, victims' services, corrections services and policy sectors across Canada identified new and emerging issues and trends. They also exchanged information about best practices in investigating, charging and prosecuting spousal assault cases and implementing measures to protect victims.

English: HTML

Public legal education and information

Note: If you cannot access the following PDF documents, please contact Justice Canada at for help.

Fact sheets

Series of documents that contains introductory information and statistics on the following topics in Canada :

Family Violence*: Gives a broad overview of the topic of family violence.; English: HTML

The other five fact sheets give more detailed information on specific areas of family violence:

Spousal Abuse*: English: HTML
Child Abuse*: English: HTML
Abuse of Older Adults*: English: HTML
Dating Violence*: English: HTML
Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children and Youth: English: HTML

Booklets / Brochures

"Abuse is Wrong in Any Language": This booklet is for immigrant and refugee women who are suffering from abuse in a relationship or in a family. If you know someone who is abused, give her this booklet. Ask her if she wants help. She may need your support. Tell her she is not alone. (POSTER ); English: HTML, PDF; French: HTML, PDF; Albanian: HTML, PDF 513K; Amharic: HTML, PDF 1058K; Arabic: HTML, PDF 1058K; Chinese (simplified): HTML, PDF 816K; Chinese (traditional): HTML, PDF 816K; Czech: HTML, PDF 1058K; Hungarian: HTML, PDF 1050K; Punjabi: HTML, PDF 577K; Romanian: HTML,PDF 1089K; Serbian: HTML, PDF 1032K; Somali: HTML, PDF 1058K; Spanish: HTML, PDF 513K; Swahili: HTML, PDF 1058K; Tagalog: HTML, PDF 1058K
Abuse is wrong in any language: A Handbook for service providers who work with immigrant women. (1996): This handbook is designed to help anyone who might come into contact with immigrant women coping with family violence. In particular, the handbook should help service providers who deliver services and crisis intervention specifically to abused women; employees of community agencies which offer social services to the general public or to women; and volunteers and staff of immigrant-serving agencies, unicultural organizations and multicultural groups. These include transition house workers, social workers, police, lawyers, court workers, nurses, doctors, counsellors and teachers.; English: PDF 4220K; French: PDF 3996K
Abuse is Wrong in any Culture for Inuit women (2001): This booklet is for Inuit women who are suffering from abuse in a relationship or in a family. If you know someone who is abused, give her this booklet. Ask her if she wants help. She may need your support. Tell her she is not alone.; English: PDF 933K; French: PDF 113K; Inuinnaqtun: PDF 123K; Inuktitut: PDF 1037K; Labradorimiut: PDF 126K
What's Wrong with Spanking – Positive Parenting Tip Sheet: Published by Health Canada, 2004; This short pamphlet explains why spanking actually doesn't work. And it gives some tips on how to effectively discipline children without spanking.; English: HTML, PDF
Stalking is a crime called criminal harassment (2003): Criminal harassment is a crime in Canada. It is harassing behaviour that includes stalking. This 20-page document explains what type of behaviour counts as criminal harassment and what victims can do to better protect themselves.; English: HTML, PDF; French: HTML, PDF; Mandarin: HTML, PDF; Punjabi: HTML, PDF; Spanish: HTML, PDF

Reports

Making appropriate parenting arrangements in family violence cases: applying the literature to identify promising practices (2006): This document contains a review of the literature on family violence and post-separation parenting arrangements in cases involving family violence. A model for best practices is outlined for parenting arrangements where violence is a factor.; English: HTML, PDF

Family Violence and the Deaf – Legal Education and Information Issues: A National Needs Assessment (Sept 2000): This project reviews the basic needs of the deaf community in the area of family violence. It looks at information gathered from stakeholders in the field of deafness and from several Public Legal Education and Information (PLEI) centres in various regions of Canada. The focus is on those people who use sign language as their primary mode of communication.; English: HTML, PDF
Making Family Violence Law Information Available to People in Rural Areas: An Inventory of Promising Practices (March 2002): This document contains an inventory of strategies and methods used by public legal education and information (PLEI) organizations and others in sharing family violence law information with people living in rural areas. The inventory categorizes the various methods and makes recommendations on most promising practices. Ultimately, this inventory will be used as a blueprint for agencies that deliver family violence information in rural areas.; English: HTML, PDF

Research

See the list of research publications on family violence.

Project funding

Inventories of funded projects in the area of family violence:

Evaluation

Review of Effectiveness of Department of Justice PLEI Publications Relating to Domestic Violence: In 2000, the Department evaluated three information booklets on spousal abuse, peace bonds and criminal harassment.; English: HTML, PDF
Lessons Learned from Projects Funded Through the Family Violence Initiative 1998/99 to 2002/03: This study takes a retrospective look at a selection of projects that received funding through the Department of Justice Canada (DOJ) interdepartmental Family Violence Initiative (FVI). Between 1998/99 and 2002/03, the DOJ component of the FVI funded approximately 70 projects that addressed a range of family violence issues from a variety of perspectives.; English: HTML, PDF
Project Managers' Guide to Performance Measurement and Evaluation, Family Violence Initiative: This guide provides an overview of the performance measurement and evaluation requirements for the Family Violence Initiative. It also contains practical information about how to plan, conduct, monitor and report performance and evaluation information.; English: HTML, PDF