Summary

This bill amends The Victims of Interpersonal Violence Act to add two new forms of conduct to the legal definition of interpersonal violence: patterns of coercive or controlling behaviour, and cyberstalking or online harassment.

Saskatchewan's Victims of Interpersonal Violence Act allows people experiencing interpersonal violence to obtain emergency intervention orders and victim assistance orders from the courts. This bill expands the legal definition of what counts as interpersonal violence by adding two categories: conduct that constitutes a pattern of coercive or controlling behaviour, and cyberstalking or online harassment. The bill does not define what constitutes coercive or controlling behaviour, cyberstalking, or online harassment, leaving those determinations to courts and enforcers interpreting the Act. Once the bill is in force, individuals alleging these forms of conduct can seek protective orders under the Act's existing procedures. The scope of who may be subject to such orders depends on how courts interpret these undefined terms in individual cases.