Callitfemicide Understanding Gender-Related Killings of Women and Girls in Canada 2018
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#CallItFemicide Understanding gender-related killings of women and girls in Canada 2018 https://femicideincanada.ca CAN_Femicide CAN.Femicide [email protected] https://femicideincanada.ca Table of Contents Acknowledgments ................................................................... 4 Suicide: ................................................................................... 28 Foreward ................................................................................. 5 Case outcome/status ............................................................ 28 Dedication ............................................................................... 6 SECTION III: Understanding gender-based motives/indicators for femicide ........................................................................... 28 Executive Summary ................................................................. 7 What relationships did women and girls share with male Introduction ............................................................................ 9 accused? ............................................................................... 30 Why focus on the killings of women and girls? ...................... 9 Gender-based motive/indicator #1: Misogyny ..................... 31 Structure of this report ......................................................... 10 Gender-based motive/indicator #2: Sexual violence ........... 32 SECTION I: The history and evolution of the term ‘femicide’ 12 Patterns in intimate femicide ............................................... 33 International context ............................................................ 12 Geographic and temporal patterns: ....................................... 34 Canadian context .................................................................. 13 Age of victims and their accused: ........................................... 34 Defining the CFOJA research parameters ............................. 17 Race/ethnicity of victims and accused: .................................. 35 SECTION II: Patterns in women and girls killed in Canada ..... 18 Children: ................................................................................. 36 Temporal distributions ......................................................... 20 Relationship status and state: ................................................ 36 Geographic patterns ............................................................. 21 Number of victims and accused: ............................................ 37 Urban/Rural Distributions: ................................................... 22 Method of intimate femicide: ................................................ 37 Demographic characteristics of victims ................................ 22 Location of intimate femicide: ............................................... 37 Age of the victim: ................................................................... 22 Accused suicide and case status: ............................................ 37 Race/ethnicity of the victim: .................................................. 23 Gender-based motives/indicators in intimate femicide ....... 37 Children: ................................................................................. 24 Gender-based motive/indicator #3: Coercive-controlling Demographic characteristics of accused .............................. 25 behaviours ............................................................................ 38 Gender of the accused:........................................................... 25 Jealousy: ................................................................................. 38 Age of the accused: ................................................................ 25 Stalking: .................................................................................. 40 Race/ethnicity of the accused: ............................................... 25 Gender-based motive/indicator #4: Separation ................... 40 Victim-accused relationship .................................................. 26 Gender-based motive/indicator #5: Overkill ........................ 41 Characteristics of the killing .................................................. 27 Familial femicide ................................................................... 42 Number of victims .................................................................. 27 Geographic and temporal patterns: ....................................... 42 Number of accused: ............................................................... 27 Age of victims and their accused: ........................................... 42 Method of killing: ................................................................... 27 Race/ethnicity of victims: ....................................................... 43 Location: ................................................................................. 28 Victim-accused relationship: .................................................. 43 2 | #CallItFemicide: Understanding gender-related killings of women and girls in Canada 2018 CAN_Femicide CAN.Femicide [email protected] https://femicideincanada.ca Number of victims and accused:............................................. 43 Sex work/prostitution killings ............................................... 50 Method of familial femicide: .................................................. 43 Research priorities: Intersectionality and femicide – Socio- demographic risk factors ...................................................... 53 Location of familial femicide:.................................................. 43 Femicide of Indigenous women and girls .............................. 53 Accused suicide and case status: ............................................ 43 Immigrant and refugee woman and girls ............................. 54 Non-intimate femicide .......................................................... 43 Older women ........................................................................ 55 Geographic and temporal patterns: ....................................... 43 Women and girls with disabilities......................................... 56 Age of the victims and their accused: ..................................... 44 Race/ethnicity of victims: ....................................................... 44 SECTION V: Future Research and Conclusions ....................... 58 Femicide and the Media ....................................................... 59 Victim-accused relationship: .................................................. 44 Femicide and the Courts ....................................................... 60 Number of victims and accused:............................................. 44 Legislative and Policy Contexts ............................................. 61 Method of non-intimate femicide: ......................................... 45 International Context: ............................................................ 61 Location of non-intimate femicide: ........................................ 45 National context: .................................................................... 62 Accused suicide and case status: ............................................ 45 Conclusion ............................................................................ 63 SECTION IV: Current and Emerging Research Priorities for Informed Prevention ............................................................. 46 Section VI: Remembering Women and Girls Killed by Violence 2018 ...................................................................................... 64 Research priorities: Situational risk factors for femicide ...... 46 Appendix A ............................................................................ 67 Intimacy and femicide ............................................................ 46 Data sources ......................................................................... 67 ‘Crime of passion’ stereotype: ................................................ 47 References ............................................................................ 69 Femicide and rurality ............................................................ 47 Firearms and Femicide .......................................................... 49 Femicide and its collateral victims ........................................ 49 3 | #CallItFemicide: Understanding gender-related killings of women and girls in Canada 2018 CAN_Femicide CAN.Femicide [email protected] https://femicideincanada.ca Acknowledgments Report prepared by: Myrna Dawson, Danielle Sutton, Michelle Carrigan, and Valérie Grand'Maison This report would not be possible without the ongoing expertise and support of the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability (CFOJA) Expert Advisory Panel (https://www.femicideincanada.ca/home/who) as well as data and research support provided by the research team at the Centre for the Study of Social and Legal Responses to Violence (CSSLRV; https://violenceresearch.ca/who), University of Guelph. The CFOJA would also like to thank Kristen Gilchrist-Salles for coming up with the hashtag #CallItFemicide during her work placement at the CSSLRV in the spring/summer of 2018. We would also like to thank our CFOJA partners (listed alphabetically): Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services Canadian Council of Muslim Women Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse Coalition of Provincial and Territorial Advisory Councils on the Status of Women Ending Violence Association of