Stop the Discharge: Demand Real Accountability for Domestic Violence Offenders in Nova Scotia

We, the undersigned, are calling on the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service, the Department of Justice, and the Domestic Violence Court Program to immediately revise sentencing practices that allow high-risk domestic violence offenders to walk free without a criminal record.

Across Nova Scotia, survivors of intimate partner violence are being failed by a system that minimizes the severity of their trauma. 

Offenders who commit life-threatening acts — including strangulation and threats to kill — are too often offered absolute discharges after completing short domestic violence programs or agreeing to voluntary peace bonds.

No conviction.

No criminal record.

No accountability. 

This means that within a year, an offender’s record can be wiped clean, while survivors live with lifelong consequences:

    •    Weeks or months without access to trauma counselling.

    •    Ongoing fear for their safety and the safety of their families.

    •    Sleepless nights, hypervigilance, and panic attacks.

    •    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that reshapes their lives permanently.

    •   Intergenerational trauma encoded on their DNA that travels down their family line.

Offenders are offered a 10 week educational program, while survivors are serving a lifelong sentence of trauma.

Research is clear:

    •    Non-fatal strangulation is one of the strongest predictors of future homicide in intimate partner violence cases.

    •    According to the Journal of Emergency Medicine, women who survive strangulation are seven times more likely to be killed by the same partner in the future.

Yet, despite these risks, discharges and peace bonds continue to be used as sentencing outcomes in cases that should be treated as high-risk and high-severity. Survivors are told to trust the system, only to discover that the system minimizes their experiences and silences their voices.

Offering an absolute discharge in cases of life-threatening domestic violence sends a chilling message: even if you almost lose your life, your abuser may not even lose his record.

Between 2018 and 2022, 850 femicides were reported in Canada—equivalent to one woman or girl killed every 48 hours. This devastating statistic reflects a deadly pattern that is directly linked to known high-risk indicators of intimate partner violence, including non-fatal strangulation, death threats, and coercive control. These warning signs are not isolated incidents—they are predictive behaviors that escalate into lethal violence. Allowing absolute or conditional discharges for non-fatal strangulation sends a dangerous message and creates a justice gap that emboldens abusers. When the justice system minimizes these high-risk acts, it directly contributes to the rising trend of femicides in Canada. Survivors deserve protection, not policy loopholes that allow violent partners to reoffend without consequence.

We are calling for:

    •    A province-wide policy prohibiting absolute discharges in cases involving non-fatal strangulation, death threats, or other life-threatening forms of domestic violence.

    •    A requirement that victim impact statements be meaningfully considered by Domestic Violence Court teams before sentencing recommendations are made.

    •    A commitment to community-informed sentencing practices that reflect the lifelong harm caused by intimate partner violence.

    •    Greater transparency from the Public Prosecution Service about the use of discharges in domestic violence cases.

Centre the voices and lived realities of survivors.

Victims of gender-based violence deserve more than a peace bond. They deserve safety. They deserve justice. And they deserve to know their lives matter more than their abuser’s reputation.

Sign your name and stand with survivors.

Tell Nova Scotia’s justice system: No more discharges for domestic violence.