Canada鈥檚 criminal justice system is struggling to adapt to modern, non-physical forms of violence, including coercive control, AI-driven exploitation, and digital grooming, which leave few visible marks.
MANITOULIN鈥擣or decades, Canada鈥檚 criminal law has been built like a house with only one kind of window: the kind that lets in visible light. What could be seen, bruised, photographed or testified to in open court was what the system understood best.
But harm has learned to move quietly.
The law is trying, belatedly, to catch up to a world where violence no longer needs a body in the room to be real.
What is emerging in Ottawa鈥檚 current criminal justice reforms is not just a set of technical amendments. It is a recognition鈥攗neasy, partial, overdue鈥攖hat harm has become psychological, digital, financial, and spatial all at once. And for front-line workers, advocates, and survivors, that reality has been here for years.
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