What you don’t know can hurt you

By Pamela Cross ( November 27, 2019, 4:08 PM EST) -- Not every survivor of family violence walks into her lawyer’s office with a broken arm or black eye. Even when there is physical abuse, few clients readily open up about this with their lawyer. Identifying the subtler forms of abuse is even more challenging. Coercive controlling behaviour, including emotional and psychological abuse and financial control, often build slowly over time in the relationship and don’t leave visible injuries. As a result, the victim may be unaware of the extent of the abuser’s control over her or, indeed, that his treatment of her is a form of abuse....