The BC Coroner just released its Review of Intimate Partner Violence-Related Deaths in British Columbia, 2016-2024. We have been pressing the province for systemic change, with transparency and making the information available to the public as a fundamental first step. The reports key findings is what we've been saying all along:ย
1. IPV-related deaths remain persistent and mostly preventable.ย
2. Women are disproportionately impacted as 76% of victims killed by an intimate partner.
3. A known history of violence was common but not universal. 36% of victimโperpetrator relationships had at least one prior incident of police-reported IPV and, of these, 29% of incidents occurred within one month of the death. Over half of perpetrators had a history of assault.
We urge the committee to call on Canada to denounce and condemn any attempt to intimidate, threat, attack, silence and boycott womenโs groups and individual women for speaking up on the unique experience and needs of female born women and girls and remind Canada that the โAttempts to silence women based on the views they hold regarding the scope of gender identity and sex in law and in practice and the rights associated with these, severely affects their participation in society in dignity and in safety, as well as their countryโs prosperity and development.โ
Routinely, men that are deemed dangerous by Crown prosecutors and judges, as evidenced by the granting of protection orders and/or no-contact as a bail condition, are released into the community and as a result, fatally harm women.
Canadaโs Criminal Code and the corresponding Provincial Policy allow pre-trial detention โfor the protection or safety of the publicโ (including a victim). Are women not considered โthe publicโ? Donโt women deserve protection and safety?
