EDMONTON—A law that was crafted in the U.K. to help potential victims of domestic violence escape a violent partner will be coming to Alberta.

But it has been criticized for not being as effective as hoped where it has already been introduced.

The Disclosure to Protect Against Domestic Violence Act, also known as Clare’s Law, was tabled in Alberta’s legislature through Bill 17 Wednesday by Rajan Sawhney, minister of community and social services. It will be Alberta’s version of a law passed in the U.K. in 2014, after domestic violence victim Clare Wood was murdered by a partner whom police knew had a criminal past.

The law would give potential domestic violence victims the right to know from police whether their partner has a history of a violent criminal record. It will also give police the right to disclose that information without a formal application.

At a press conference on Wednesday, premier Jason Kenney said this law is important to combat the “crisis of domestic violence against women in Alberta.” Kenney said that in 2017, police reported over 10,000 cases of intimate partner violence in the province. That included 16 deaths.

Sawhney added the problem is particularly acute among Indigenous women.

“We believe that this law can save lives,” Sawhney said, adding that it should make a “solid dent” in the number of domestic violence cases.

Kenney said the law was brought to the forefront with the help of a Calgary woman, Dianne Donevan, who was beaten nearly to death by a violent boyfriend.

. Donevan didn’t know he had a history of domestic violence convictions dating back to 1987. She has since petitioned for the law to be implemented in Alberta.

“If Dianne Denovan had been able to check the criminal history of the man that nearly killed her, she could have avoided the violence that so terribly impacted her life,” Kenney said.

Saskatchewan was the first province to implement a version of Clare’s Law in Canada in 2018. Andrea Silverstone, the executive director of Sagesse Domestic Violence Prevention Society, said Clare’s Law in Alberta is an important step to help combat violence against women, as well as building bridges between police and women at risk.

“(Clare’s Law) will provide protection to allow (potential victims) to make informed choices about keeping themselves and their children safe,” Silverstone said. “In some cases, it will stop the violence before it even begins.”

But critics of Clare’s Law say it doesn’t do enough to help prevent domestic violence.

Sandra Walkate, a researcher and chair of sociology at the University of Liverpool, has examined Clare’s Law in the U.K. and other places. She pointed to issues of patchy implementation of the law and added it puts too much of the onus on a victim to leave a potentially violent situation.

“In the U.K., they were introduced on the back of a high-profile campaign supported by very little evidence of what they could do,” Walkate told Star Edmonton.

She added that since its implementation in the U.K., reports have shown that there were problems with the length of time to provide information requested, in some instances up to 42 days.

In response, Sawhney said the details of Alberta’s law are yet to be finalized, and those who are familiar with issues of domestic violence will be consulted on how the law should be used.

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Sawhney added Clare’s Law is “an additional tool” to help domestic violence victims. Sawhney also spoke of the need for wrap-around supportive services “to define a safety plan and what the next steps (for a victim) would be.”

With the United Conservative’s first budget looming on Oct. 24 and expected significant cuts to the province’s public services, Kenney told media on Wednesday that funding for women’s shelters across Alberta will be maintained despite “fiscal challenges.”

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