Please sign and share: https://www.change.org/p/stop-silencing-survivors-ban-national-security-secrecy-in-violence-against-women-cases  The case against a Canadian soldier charged with the catastrophic assault of his spouse was shockingly shut down in May 2025 for undisclosed "national security" reasons, silencing the survivor and setting a dangerous precedent. 

Canada must bar the use of national security confidentiality in cases of male violence against women before it becomes yet one more barrier to women seeking justice and accountability for abuses committed against them.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser will in the coming weeks be introducing new legislation addressing male violence against women. As part of that legislation, he MUST urgently legislate a ban against the use of state secrecy privilege/national security confidentiality in criminal, family, and civil court proceedings involving male violence against women (and extending to any cases involving harassment, mistreatment, and abuse in family, “intimate partner”, workplace and any other settings).

· If the devastating May 2025 precedent is allowed to stand, a survivor in court would find herself up against the full power of state institutions employing limitless resources to argue that the case against an abuser should be significantly constrained, if not thrown out, for “national security” reasons that cannot be disclosed.

· The May 2025 precedent could also be viewed as a “get out of jail free card” by abusers working in federal government agencies, police departments, “sensitive” academic positions, and corporations deemed by Canada to be working in the national interest, all of whom could claim NSC protection to avoid transparency and accountability.

A survivor challenging the use of state security secrecy would also face an extended wait for trial that involves a separate, protracted Federal Court proceeding to examine the merits of the secrecy application. This would add to trial delays that would allow an abuser to seek dismissal of charges by taking advantage of the Jordan ruling (the right to a speedy trial), under which hundreds of cases of violence against women have been thrown out.