Victim of spousal violence worries ex could walk free

A victim of spousal violence says her ex-husband is appealing his 22-month sentence, leaving her wondering why she spoke out against the abuse in the first place.

Joan Barry's former husband, Jason Churchill, was convicted Oct. 22 of aggravated assault.

But Barry said immediately following the conviction Churchill filed a request for an appeal, now set for Nov. 4.

"Where is the justice there if he [does] get it? Where is the justice?" said Barry, who told CBC News she had suffered multiple physical and verbal assaults from him for years, including an attack last year which damaged her right eye so badly she can't see out of it.

"When I came out of court on Thursday, I regretted ever speaking out, " said Barry who feels betrayed by the court system.

"I don't think they're there for the victims, not completely. Not the way they should be."

A 'horribly broken' system

St. John's lawyer Lynn Moore, who lobbied the province to re-instate the family violence intervention court, said she wasn't surprised by Barry's sentiments.

"I've heard that from many many complainants," said Moore, on a edition of CBC's CrossTalk about spousal abuse.

Moore said when victims take the stand they often feel under attack, with the burden of proving abuse beyond a reasonable doubt difficult to do.

"For the person who has been assaulted, whether it's a sexual assault or an intimate partner assault, that does not feel like justice. That feels like a system that is horribly broken. And women are turning away from the criminal justice system," said Moore. 

Long-time campaigner for the end of spousal violence, Connie Pike, said crimes against people are different than property crimes, but the system doesn't appear to make that distinction.

"We treat people in these circumstances like they're property. They're already treated like they're property before they get to the court system," said Pike.

"But then for the court system to treat them as though they're property, or hand out sentences that reflect that kind of thinking, is wrong on a number of levels."

Prevention over prison

Both Moore and Pike agree that Churchill's 22-month sentence doesn't go far enough, but stiffer prison sentences overall for spousal abuse are not the solution to the problem.

"Higher court sentences, longer jail terms, are not the answer in and of themselves. This is one approach only to a multi-faceted problem," said Pike.
 
"The evidence does not show that lengthy prison terms reduce the problem that we're trying to reduce. And if it doesn't reduce the problem, why do it?" said Moore. 
 
"The question needs to be, what can we do to stop this before it starts?"
 
Moore said preventing future violence is key. 

"We really need to change our education system," she said. "We have to inspire our children to want to change this."