Substance Use Coercion & IPV Survivors in Family Court | Substance Use Coercion & IPV Survivors in Family Court

Many survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) experience substance use coercion, which occurs when abusers attempt to control survivors through tactics related to substance use. Common tactics include forcing survivors to use substances, preventing survivors from accessing treatment programs, and purposefully sabotaging the recovery process. This webinar will provide an overview on the issue of substance use coercion and its impact on survivors of IPV. It will also discuss the intersection of substance use coercion and the family court system for survivors of IPV, including the prevalence of the issue amongst litigants in both the Canadian and American family court systems, how family court personnel can best address the issue, and promising practices for supporting survivors impacted by the issue in the family court system.

Speakers: Dr. Carole Warshaw MD, Director of the National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma and Mental Health, Breena Murray BA LL.B., a practising lawyer and a Partner at Patersons LLP, and Colleen Allan, Executive Director of the St. Raphael Wellness Centre.