The mother, 50-year-old Anne-Marie Ready, and her daughter, 15-year-old Jasmine Ready, were stabbed to death on the evening of June 27. A third victim, 19-year-old Catherine Ready, survived the fatal stabbing. The suspect was the son of their next-door neighbor. According to his family, 21-year-old Joshua Graves — who was shot and killed by police — had a “romantic” interest in one of the victims and was told to stop contacting her. He was arrested and released for sexually assaulting and stalking another woman just days before attacking the Readys. Anne-Marie and Jasmine Ready’s funeral is scheduled for Monday afternoon. Ottawa police block off Anoka Street a day after fatal stabbing. (Michelle Allan/CBC) The tragedy occurred on the same day a high-level coroner’s inquiry into the 2015 murders of three women in Renfrew County released 86 recommendations aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women. One of the recommendations made by the jury at the inquest was that the term femicide be included in the Criminal Code of Canada, and another was that it be listed as the cause of death in coroner’s reports. These recommendations are particularly important at this time, according to lawyer Pamela Cross, who was part of an expert panel at the inquiry. “It’s a way of saying [gender-based violence] it’s become such a serious problem in our society, we need to give it its own name,” Cross said.
“Clear acts of femicide”
Cross explained that the term femicide represents a very specific type of killing — “the killing of a woman because she is a woman.” Like the 2015 murders of Nathalie Warmerdam, Anastasia Kuzyk and Carol Culleton, Cross said the Readys’ murders were “clearly acts of femicide.” Cross said there is a common misconception that such murders are solely related to intimate partner violence, but femicides go beyond domestic relationships. From left to right, Anastasia Kuzyk, Nathalie Warmerdam and Carol Culleton. These women were murdered in and around Renfrew County west of Ottawa on September 22, 2015. (Photo/CBC) According to Marlene Ham, executive director of the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH), there are four different categories of femicide: “intimate partner femicide, family, known relationships and unknown relationships.” Hamm explained that men accused or held responsible for murdering cis or trans women can be a current partner, ex-partner, family member or even an acquaintance. The OAITH prepares and publishes an annual list of femicides throughout the province. The deaths of Anne-Marie and Jasmine Ready have now been added to this list. Hamm said since November 2021 there have been 23 femicides across Ontario and in June 2022 there were five cases in the province. “We’re on a dangerous trajectory here,” Hamm said. However, femicides are preventable, he added, explaining that perpetrators often have a history of “red flags,” which can be understood as “significant risk factors for mortality.” Some risk factors range from harassment and stalking to a history of sexual assault or physical violence, Hamm said. “By understanding what these risk factors are that lead to mortality, we can also prevent femicide,” he said. “A recognition [of femicide] within the Criminal Code, could provide a framework for understanding the nuance and significance of the crimes.’ Marlene Ham, executive director of the Ontario Association of Interval Houses, says femicide offenders may exhibit a range of “risk factors,” including stalking, harassment and physical violence. (Francis Ferland/CBC) According to lawyer and former Crown attorney Megan Stevens, the move to criminalize femicide may push Canada’s justice system and other government institutions to take gender-based violence more seriously and combat it by devoting more resources to preventing it. Criminalizing femicide could also mean stricter parole eligibility conditions for offenders, Stephens said. But it can be difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a woman was killed because of her gender in some cases, depending on how the law is worded, he said.
Inspire change at the community level
Cross, who is a lawyer, explained that recognizing the term in the Criminal Code could also inspire change at the community level. “It could be helpful for the next woman who thinks, ‘wow, these are the kinds of things that happen in my relationship.’ Maybe there are some steps I should take or some support I could have,” Cross explained. “It will make people think differently about killing women and that, in the long run, will lead to lower rates of violence against women and femicide in particular.” However, Cross added that criminalizing femicide is not a one-size-fits-all solution to violence against women and much work needs to be done. Pamela Cross says there is a common misconception that femicides are solely related to intimate partner violence and that it goes beyond domestic relationships. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick) The federal government says it will “carefully consider” the recommendations, a spokesman for Canada’s Attorney General wrote in an email. “It does not include [femicide] as a Criminal Code offense would be a missed opportunity for change,” Stephens said.
