Specialised domestic violence courts in Canada and the United States: Key factors in prioritising safety for women and children

ABSTRACT

This paper reviews the response of specialised domestic violence courts in Canada and the United States to contact disputes where there are allegations of domestic violence. It begins with a discussion of legal reforms responding to domestic violence in Canada and the United States, including the different types of DV courts and their rationales, key features, merits and drawbacks. Evaluations of Integrated DV courts in the United States and Canada are then reviewed. The research shows that although IDV courts hold more promise to deal with contact disputes given their inclusion of family law matters, there are few studies analysing the impact of IDV courts on these disputes, and some suggest these courts may actually increase contact and hence the potential for safety issues to arise. The final section discusses the strengths and weaknesses of IDV courts in relation to contact disputes, identifying the factors that make these specialised courts more or less successful in prioritising safety and minimising harm for women and children.

KEYWORDS:

• Domestic violence
• contact disputes
• specialised courts
• integrated domestic violence courts
• North America
• Canada

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. I primarily use the term ‘domestic violence’ in this paper as that is the term used to refer to specialised courts in this area. My focus is on intimate partner violence, and my language is gendered in recognition of the fact that women are the primary victims and men the primary perpetrators.

2. This section of the paper draws on the literature review conducted for Koshan (2014).

Additional information

Funding

The research in this paper was funded in part by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Canada).

Notes on contributors

Jennifer Koshan

Jennifer Koshan is a Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary, Canada. Her research and teaching focus on constitutional law, human rights, legal responses to interpersonal violence, and feminist legal theory and activism.