The following National Spousal Abuse FAQs are provided by the Legal Studies Program.

Funded by the Department of Justice Canada.

Warning: 

The contents of these FAQs are intended as general legal information only. If you have
a personal problem, please consult a lawyer.



I finally left my husband after suffering years of abuse, but I cannot seem to get away from 
him. He finds me wherever I am. He follows me, phones me and makes threats about the 
children. He has not hurt me physically since I left so I don't know if the police can do anything 
about this behaviour. Is there anything that can help me? 


The offense of criminal harassment. This offense covers the kind of behaviour you are 
experiencing from your husband. It is behaviour that troubles or annoys a person continually. 
You might also hear the offense referred to as stalking. Stalking means prowling a person's 
home, following or tracking a person or keeping watch over a person or place they go to 
regularly.

The offense of criminal harassment is committed where a person has a reasonable fear for 
their own safety of another because of harassing behaviour. There are other offenses in the 
Criminal Code that can apply to different types of harassing behaviour, e.g. trepass, uttering 
threats, making indecent or repeated phone calls, mischief or intimidation. However, these 
offenses do not normally cover behaviour that is non-violent such as following someone.