What the Law says about Psychological (or Emotional) Abuse
Behaviours that are psychologically abusive may not be offences under the Criminal Code. Many actions that are mean and hurtful are not crimes.
However, under certain circumstances, psychological abuse may be a criminal offence. Some examples include the following.
Uttering Threats
A threat is an intimidation tactic intended to cause fear to another person. It is a criminal offense to threaten to kill or to threaten to cause bodily harm to another person. It is also a crime to threaten to destroy or damage another person’s property, including injuring or killing any animals the person owns.
Intimidation
Intimidation is conduct meant either to stop a person from doing something that they have a right to do, or force a person to do something which they do not have to do.
Criminal Harassment
Criminal harassment is a crime. It involves repeated conduct that is directed at a person and causes that person to reasonably fear for his or her safety or the safety of anyone known to him to her.
Examples of criminal harassment include:
- following the victim or someone the victim knows;
- repeatedly contacting him or her, or someone he or she knows (this includes phone calls and emails);
- watching or hanging around the victim's house or the house of someone the victim knows;
- watching or hanging around the victim's (or someone the victim knows) workplace or any other place he or she happens to be; and
- using threatening behaviour towards to the victim or other member of his or her family.
Forcible Confinement
An individual is forcibly confined when he or she is physically restrained against his or her will. This includes being forced by threats or other non-physical means. The central concern is that the individual has been deprived of his or her liberty to freely move.
The fact that the confined person did not resist is not a defence, unless an accused can show that the failure to resist was not caused by threats, duress, or a show of force.
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