Most women who suspect their boyfriends or husbands have a violent past cannot just call the police and request their criminal history. Canada has robust privacy laws that stand in the way. But things are changing.
Several Canadian provinces are now considering adopting a version of Clare’s Law, which allows people to apply for information that will reveal whether their intimate partners have a history of violence. Police can also use the law to proactively tell someone their partner might pose a risk. A version of the law was originally passed in the U.K. in 2014 and is named for Clare Wood, a woman who was killed by her ex-boyfriend. She was unaware of his violent past.
Ashley Wadsworth’s family wishes she had taken advantage of Clare’s Law and investigated her boyfriend before it was too late. Wadsworth, who grew up in Vernon, B.C., was only 12 when she met a British teenager online, became romantically involved and then moved to the U.K. to live with him. Unbeknownst to Wadsworth and her family, he had a long history of violence against women. The nightmare story of what happened next is told in gripping detail in “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth.”
—Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief
