09/08/2026
WHERE WE ARE GOING: COERCIVE CONTROL
One of the most important developments in family law is the growing recognition that abuse is not limited to isolated incidents of physical violence.
Coercive control can be quieter.
It can be cumulative.
It can involve intimidation, surveillance, financial restriction, isolation, threats, humiliation, manipulation, interference with parenting, misuse of legal processes, control over communication, or a pattern of conduct designed to reduce another person’s autonomy.
Sometimes no single incident tells the whole story.
The pattern does.
That matters in family law because separating from a controlling relationship does not always end the control.
In some cases, separation can intensify it.
Conflict can move into parenting exchanges, finances, communication, court applications, disclosure, technology, social media, third-party contact, or repeated demands that appear ordinary when viewed individually but become very different when viewed as part of a larger pattern.
That is why coercive control requires careful assessment.
It also requires precision.
Not every difficult relationship is coercively controlling.
Not every disagreement is abuse.
Not every high-conflict separation involves a pattern of domination.
The legal system must be capable of distinguishing ordinary conflict from conduct that genuinely undermines safety, liberty, dignity and decision-making.
That distinction matters for everyone.
For victims.
For children.
For lawyers.
For mediators.
For judges.
And for the integrity of the justice system itself.
The future of family dispute resolution must therefore include better screening, better education and better professional judgment around coercive and controlling behaviour.
Mediation can be powerful.
Collaborative practice can be powerful.
Parenting coordination can be powerful.
But no dispute-resolution process should be treated as automatically appropriate simply because it is out of court.
Process selection must be informed by safety.
By power imbalance.
By capacity to participate freely.
By access to independent legal advice.
And by whether meaningful negotiation is actually possible.
Technology adds another dimension.
Phones, shared accounts, location services, passwords, financial platforms, cameras, messaging applications and social media can all become part of controlling behaviour.
At the same time, technology can also help preserve records, improve access to information, support safer communication structures and assist professionals in identifying patterns that might otherwise be missed.
The answer is not fear of technology.
It is responsible use of it.
The same is true of the law.
The law should not be used as a weapon.
Legal processes should not become instruments for harassment, intimidation or endless continuation of conflict.
At the same time, allegations of coercive control are serious and must be assessed carefully, fairly and on evidence.
Procedural fairness matters.
Evidence matters.
Context matters.
Patterns matter.
And safety matters.
The work ahead is about building systems capable of holding all of those things at the same time.
Systems that take abuse seriously without abandoning fairness.
Systems that recognize patterns without replacing evidence with assumptions.
Systems that understand that access to justice includes access to safety.
And systems that recognize that resolving family conflict is not simply about reaching an agreement.
It is about whether that agreement was reached freely, intelligently and without coercion.
That is part of the future of this work.
Better screening.
Better education.
Better process selection.
Better use of technology.
Better understanding of coercive control.
And better protection of human dignity within family justice.
More to follow.
Kayla Claudine DeMars-Krentz
Lawyer • Mediator • Dispute Resolution
KDK Legal Professional Corporation
In and For the Province of Saskatchewan
Out of Court Divorce
OVER & OUT ♾️
"Saskatchewan. A province. A place that I love. Saskatchewan is a national leader in the incidence of domestic and intimate partner violence. What an absolute tragedy. How shameful."
"Saskatchewan men are leaders in Canada in solving their relationship problems through the use of violence. It is disgusting, it has to stop. It cannot be swept under the rug anymore. No one ran into a door jam or fell down some stairs."
