The federal Divorce Act and some provincial/territorial family laws contain a good working definition of family violence:
Family violence is any conduct, whether or not that conduct constitutes a criminal offence, by a family member towards another family member, that is violent or threatening or that constitutes a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour or that causes that other family member to fear for their own safety or for that of another person – and in the case of a child, the direct or indirect exposure to such conduct….
The definition goes on to list some examples of behaviours that would be considered to be family violence:
- Physical abuse, including forced confinement but excluding the use of reasonable force to protect themselves or another person
- Sexual abuse
- Threats to kill or cause bodily harm to any person
- Harassment, including stalking
- The failure to provide the necessaries of life
- Psychological abuse
- Financial abuse
- Threats to kill or harm an animal or damage property, and
- The killing or harming of an animal or the damaging of property
The term family violence is a general one and can refer to many kinds of abuse within a family:
- Partner on partner abuse
- Child abuse
- Abuse by extended family members
- Abuse of elders in the family by younger family members