After ex's assault charges dropped, woman wants Ontario among provinces deeming domestic violence an epidemic

Warning: This story contains references to intimate partner violence.

Billie Jo Barrett says it's hard talking about her experiences with domestic violence, but it's more difficult knowing other survivors have had their court cases stayed due to challenges in the justice system.

That's part of the reason Barrett, who lives in Thunder Bay with her Boston terrier Bruce, is calling on Ontario to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic, as dozens of Ontario municipalities and several other provinces and the territories already have.

Barrett said her former partner was charged after he was accused of trying to strangle her during three separate incidents. CBC obtained court documents that say he was charged in October 2021 with assault with a weapon or imitation weapon. He was also charged between November 2022 and January 2023 with spousal assault, two counts of assault causing bodily harm – choke, suffocate or strangle, two counts of forcible confinement, mischief under $5,000, and failure to comply with a probation order.

However, due to a lack of evidence, the court case was stayed, meaning all the charges were effectively dropped.

Barrett believes a shortage of court staff also played a role in the case's outcome.

"The day that I was to go to court, court was overbooked. There were not enough judges. There were blackouts, so I felt that my case was de-prioritized," Barrett said.

She is also concerned about the growing number of criminal cases that aren't making it to trial due to court backlogs and what that means for survivors seeking justice.

CBC News recently learned that 56 per cent of all criminal cases in Ontario between 2022-2023 ended with charges being withdrawn, stayed, dismissed or discharged before a decision was made at trial.

"For myself, knowing how difficult it was to come forward, it concerns me that other women will be afraid to come forward as well, knowing that in most cases, these situations don't usually end up in court for whatever reasons," Barrett said.

Thunder Bay's rate of police-reported intimate partner violence is among the highest in Canada: 551 per 100,000 population in 2022.

Advocates say besides being symbolic of how important the issue is, declaring intimate partner violence as an epidemic would result in more resources being allocated to front-line service providers, like women's centres, victim services and the courts.

"I don't feel it should be up to the victims, the survivors, the families that it has impacted, to be responsible for change," Barrett said. "I think that the government, that our lawmakers need to take a very serious look at this."

Federally, the Senate is expected to pass Bill S-249, known as Georgina's Law, this week. This would require Canada to create a national strategy within two years to prevent intimate partner violence and require that the government update all Houses of Parliament on what actions have been taken every two years.