Court recognizes intimate partner violence as legal basis for damages

The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized intimate partner violence as a distinct legal basis for pursuing civil damages. The ruling comes in the case of a woman who endured years of physical and emotional abuse during a 16-year marriage. The court found that intimate partner violence is a pernicious social ill deserving full legal attention and that existing torts of assault and battery fail to remedy the specific harms to dignity, autonomy, and equality.