Compromise on Parenting and Family Violence? Reforms to Canada’s Divorce Act

This paper contributes to international feminist debates on shared parenting and family violence via reforms to Canada’s Divorce Act, in force since 2021. Looking backwards, it reviews parliamentary debates and early judicial discussions. The documentary review reads the reforms as an unstable compr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Feminist legal studies 2024-04, Vol.32 (1), p.3-24
Main Author: Leckey, Robert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Compromises
Cooperation
Courts
Debates
Divorce
Divorce Act-Canada
Domestic violence
Families & family life
Fathers
Feminism
Gender Studies
Human Rights
Judges & magistrates
Law
Law and Criminolgy
Parents & parenting
Policy making
Political Theory
Public International Law
Reforms
Seriousness
Violence
Welfare
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:This paper contributes to international feminist debates on shared parenting and family violence via reforms to Canada’s Divorce Act, in force since 2021. Looking backwards, it reviews parliamentary debates and early judicial discussions. The documentary review reads the reforms as an unstable compromise between calls from feminist voices and experts on family violence and from groups representing fathers. Family violence is now defined broadly and declared relevant to children’s welfare. But language in the statute may undermine its seriousness. Exposing the tensions underlying these reforms is useful for Canadian participants in family justice and for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers elsewhere, exemplifying the promise and perils of reform in this area. Looking ahead, the paper offers recommendations to higher courts. Appellate judges should read rules on contact with both parents and parental cooperation in the light of the new recognition of family violence, taking the latter as an overarching objective of the statute.
ISSN:0966-3622
1572-8455
DOI:10.1007/s10691-023-09522-z