Strong punitive measures and an aggressive criminal justice response have been at the forefront of contemporary approaches to domestic violence across Canada. If current justice policies in Canada are taken as an indicator of the needs of women in abusive relationships, then women are calling for a 'get tough' approach to domestic violence, including amplified police surveillance, harsher punishments for male abusers, and an extension of criminal law. Is this what female victims of abuse are seeking? This article re-introduces women's needs as a significant component in the analysis of the successes and/or failures of the criminal justice response to woman abuse. The article is based on qualitative interviews conducted with women who have been victimized by intimate violence and have called upon the criminal justice system for assistance. The main objective was to learn what the women identified their needs to be and whether, if at all, the criminal justice system responded to those needs. The interview data were used to analyze the extent to which, and the manner in which, the criminal justice system responded to the needs they articulated and then to consider whether the criminal justice system is structurally capable of responding to these needs. A re-thinking of 'women's needs' and a clarification of the corresponding notion of 'choice' emerged from this analysis.