While our work at Luke’s Place is focused on the family law needs and experiences of women who have left relationships in which they were subjected to abuse, we are well aware that other legal systems intersect with family law. For this reason, we have been paying close attention to the issue of whether or not coercive control should be criminalized. Most recently, our staff team came together for a group discussion about this topic, during which we heard the perspectives of those with lived experiences of coercive control as well as those whose daily work with survivors has shaped their thinking on this topic and those whose systemic work with the law has provided them with insights into past law reform successes and failures. While perspectives differed widely, we reached a common ground that forms the basis for the position Luke’s Place is taking with respect to the criminalization of coercive control. Read Luke’s Place position on coercive control here: https://lukesplace.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/LP-Position-Criminalization-of-Coercive-Control.pdf