The London Police Services Council is looking to hear from community members, women’s advocates and experts as it prepares to send a letter to Ottawa.  The last day to discuss the issue is July 31st.
“What we’re trying to do is tell individuals that when a woman or a girl is murdered every 36 hours in Canada, that’s a crisis and it needs to be addressed,” said board member Megan Walker, who leads the initiative. .  .
“One of the first tools we know we can use to address this is defining femicide and using it to further (criminal) investigations.”
Walker, who is a former executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre, said the initiative came from a board meeting in May where she asked if there was a specific breakdown of how many women were victims of murder, attempted murder and hate crime in the city .  , and said no such data was readily available.
“My concern was, how do you fix a problem if you don’t recognize it’s there?  So if we can’t even mention how many femicides there are, if we can’t even talk about how many hate crimes and incidents against women, we’re stuck in this cycle,” he said.
Police departments across Canada have been contacted to learn more as the London board prepares to make its case to the federal government, Walker said.
The issue was also highlighted last month at an inquest into the deaths of three women who were killed in 2015 by a man with whom they had a previous relationship.
The jury hearing what happened to Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Nathalie Warmerdam urged the federal government to investigate adding the term femicide and defining it in the Criminal Code “to be used where appropriate in related crimes.”
Myrna Dawson, founder and director of the Canadian Femicide Observatory, said she is “encouraged and happy to see some movement” on the issue of femicide.
“It’s been a long time coming because there’s a group of us in Canada, and globally, that have recognized femicide as a key issue that affects women’s lives, but … the term femicide doesn’t really resonate with members of the general public “, he said.
The Canadian Observatory on Femicide found that 173 women and girls had been killed in Canada by December 31, 2021, up from 137 murders in 2019, the year before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The research and intelligence center notes that the numbers may increase over time as investigations are completed, suspicious deaths are ruled homicides or new deaths are recorded.
Dawson said she believes the term femicide is starting to get the attention it deserves because of the pandemic restrictions that have brought the issue of domestic violence into the spotlight and the number of cases in recent years that have highlighted how women and girls can be killed simply because of their gender.
Without official recognition of femicide as a crime, it is difficult to initiate prevention efforts or raise public awareness around it, he said.
“It highlights the discriminatory and symbolic aspects of this form of violence as a social reality for women and girls,” Dawson said, noting that Indigenous women and girls are disproportionately affected.
“It really comes down to the attitude that men have rights and privileges over women and that there are social norms around masculinity and their need to assert power and control.  When we call it homicide, we don’t get that whole context of how which women are killed.”
Lisa Darling, executive director of the Ontario Police Services Association Board of Directors, said the union will support the London council and “support as needed” its femicide initiative.
The Toronto Police Services Board plans to review the London board’s efforts and “will consider joining them at the appropriate time,” said Danielle Dowdy, senior policy and stakeholder relations adviser for the board. Toronto.
A spokesperson for Justice Canada said the federal government is “committed” to ending all forms of gender-based violence and addressing any loopholes in the Criminal Code “to ensure a robust criminal justice system response and will carefully consider the inquiry’s recommendations and other elements.”
Ian McLeod said the provisions of the Criminal Code “ensure that perpetrators of violence against women and girls receive sentences commensurate with the seriousness of the offence”, taking into account whether there is evidence that the offense was motivated by prejudice or hatred based on sex and gender identity .

title: " This Is A Crisis Ontario Police Council Wants Femicide Added To Criminal Code " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-06” author: “Debora Cunningham”

The London Police Services Council is looking to hear from community members, women’s advocates and experts as it prepares to send a letter to Ottawa. The last day to discuss the issue is July 31st. “What we’re trying to do is tell individuals that when a woman or a girl is murdered every 36 hours in Canada, that’s a crisis and it needs to be addressed,” said board member Megan Walker, who leads the initiative. . . “One of the first tools we know we can use to address this is defining femicide and using it to further (criminal) investigations.” Walker, who is a former executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre, said the initiative came from a board meeting in May where she asked if there was a specific breakdown of how many women were victims of murder, attempted murder and hate crime in the city . , and said no such data was readily available. “My concern was how do you fix a problem if you don’t recognize it’s there? So if we can’t even name how many femicides there are, if we can’t even talk about how many hate crimes and incidents have been committed against women, we’re stuck in this cycle,” he said. Police departments across Canada have been contacted to learn more as the London board prepares to make its case to the federal government, Walker said. The issue was also highlighted last month at an inquest into the deaths of three women who were killed in 2015 by a man with whom they had a previous relationship. The jury hearing what happened to Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Nathalie Warmerdam urged the federal government to investigate adding the term femicide and defining it in the Criminal Code “to be used where appropriate in related crimes.” Myrna Dawson, founder and director of the Canadian Femicide Observatory, said she is “encouraged and happy to see some movement” on the issue of femicide. “It’s been a long time coming because there’s a group of us in Canada, and globally, that have recognized femicide as a key issue that affects women’s lives, but … the term femicide doesn’t really resonate with members of the general public. ” he said. The Canadian Observatory on Femicide found that 173 women and girls had been killed in Canada by December 31, 2021, up from 137 murders in 2019, the year before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research and intelligence center notes that the numbers may increase over time as investigations are completed, suspicious deaths are ruled homicides or new deaths are recorded. Dawson said she believes the term femicide is starting to get the attention it deserves because of the pandemic restrictions that have brought the issue of domestic violence into the spotlight and the number of cases in recent years that have highlighted how women and girls can be killed simply because of their gender. Without official recognition of femicide as a crime, it is difficult to initiate prevention efforts or raise public awareness around it, he said. “It highlights the discriminatory and symbolic aspects of this form of violence as a social reality for women and girls,” Dawson said. “It really comes down to the attitude that men have rights and privileges over women and that there are social norms around masculinity and their need to assert power and control. When we call it homicide, we don’t understand the whole context of how women are killed.” Lisa Darling, executive director of the Ontario Police Services Association Board of Directors, said the union will support the London council and “support as needed” its femicide initiative. The Toronto Police Services Board plans to review the London board’s efforts and “will consider joining them at the appropriate time,” said Danielle Dowdy, senior policy and stakeholder relations adviser for the board. Toronto. A spokesperson for Justice Canada said the federal government is “committed” to ending all forms of gender-based violence and addressing any loopholes in the Criminal Code “to ensure a robust criminal justice system response and will carefully consider the recommendations of the inquiry and other clues .” Ian McLeod said the provisions of the Criminal Code “ensure that perpetrators of violence against women and girls receive sentences commensurate with the seriousness of the offence”, taking into account whether there is evidence that the offense is motivated by prejudice or hatred based on sex and gender identity . The Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.