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Reducing and Preventing Intimate Partner Homicides in Canada
This edition of the National Clearinghouse on Family Violence (NCFV) E-bulletin focuses on intimate partner homicides, particularly the rise in collective efforts to reduce and prevent these homicides in Canada. Intimate partner homicide refers to the murder of former or current partners, both married and unmarried. Only in recent years has focused attention been brought to the issue of intimate partner homicide in Canada. Since then, steady progress has been made to enhance knowledge on the issue and better coordinate efforts among key players, including the establishment of two Domestic Violence Death Review Committees (DVDRC) - in Ontario and New Brunswick. Continued efforts in these areas are required to contribute to the prevention of intimate partner homicide in Canada.
The NCFV E-bulletin is a quarterly newsletter for those interested in family violence prevention. It is produced by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), on behalf of the Family Violence Initiative (FVI) of the Government of Canada. Content is provided as an information-sharing service; inclusion does not represent endorsement by PHAC or FVI member departments.
We want to hear from you – please send your comments and feedback to our editor at: ncfv-cnivf@phac-aspc.gc.ca.
According to Statistics Canada's annual Homicide Survey, police reported data from 2007 found that:
- Spousal homicides1 represented half (47%) of all the homicides committed by family members.
- Of the 65 spousal homicides reported in that year, women were almost four times more likely to be killed by a current or former spouse than men, at an occurrence of 51 and 14 cases respectively.
- Young adults are at greatest risk of spousal homicide. Spousal homicide rates for persons in the 15 to 24 age group were three times higher than the rate for all women victims of spousal homicide.
- In 2007, the rate of spousal homicide was at its lowest point over the 30-year period of 1978 to 2007, at four spousal homicides per million spouses.
- The factors influencing the decline in spousal homicide rates over time (and the decline in spousal violence generally) may include increased use of services, increased public awareness, improved training for police officers and Crown attorneys, improvement in co-coordinated interagency referrals, expansion of relevant Provincial/Territorial legislation and pro-charging policies, increased number of treatment programs, and positive changes in women’s social and economic status.
Sources:
Family Violence in Canada: A Statistical Profile 2009
Measuring Violence Against Women: Statistical Trends 2006
1. Statistics Canada defines spousal homicides as involving persons in legal marriages, those who are separated or divorced from such unions, and those in common-law relationships (including same-sex spouses).
Domestic Violence Death Review Committees
Domestic violence death review committees (DVDRC) bring together coroners, community agencies, service providers, government representatives, researchers and other relevant stakeholders to analyze cases of domestic homicide. The purpose of a review is to develop a comprehensive understanding of why the domestic homicide occurred, with a view to making recommendations about how to prevent deaths in the future.
Over the past two decades, there has been a rapid growth in the number of these committees in the United States. In Canada, the first DVDRC was established in Ontario in 2002 in response to recommendations made through two major domestic homicide inquests. Through its annual reports, the Ontario DVDRC has identified several risk indicators for domestic homicide. These include: an actual or pending separation, a history of domestic violence and observed depression in the perpetrator. The Ontario DVDRC has also made specific recommendations about how to address knowledge and system gaps. These recommendations generally involve education and awareness, assessment and intervention, resources and child related issues. For example, the Ontario Neighbours, Friends and Families public awareness campaign was developed in response to the DVDRC’s observation that people close to victims of violence are often aware that the abuse is taking place but need guidance about how to intervene.
In October 2008, there was a Canadian think-tank on DVDRCs to discuss the Ontario experience and the logistics of establishing death review committees in other provinces. The resulting report: "Multi Disciplinary Perspectives on Preventing Domestic Homicides: A Discussion Paper from a Canadian Think-Tank" highlights some of the challenges and promising practices in this area. Informed by these discussions, other provinces have since made progress in establishing similar committees.
Domestic violence death review committees exemplify the public health approach to violence prevention: they bring a multi-sectoral group together to identify root cases and risk factors related to homicide, and use this evidence to make recommendations for actions to prevent violence and abuse. This important work supports decision-makers, family violence intervention and prevention stakeholders, and the public at large to protect and promote the health of the population.
Publications:
The NCFV offers resources on family violence, including overview papers, reports, discussion papers, handbooks and videos. To preview our recently released resources, please see our What's New page. NCFV publications are available free of charge, in hard copy or online, in English and French and in alternative formats upon request. To order, please visit our website or contact us.
New in the NCFV
- Directory of Services for Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse
- Family Violence Initiative Performance Report For April 2004 - March 2008 (available electronically only)
Coming Soon
- Directory of Services and Programs Addressing the Needs of Older Adult Victims of Violence in Canada
Library
The NCFV provides an extensive library reference collection. The following is a short-list of resources related to intimate partner homicide. A full bibliographic search can be conducted online. Resources may be borrowed through an interlibrary loan through your local public, academic or institutional library:
Criminal justice outcomes in intimate and non-intimate partner homicide cases
Myrna Dawson
Canada. Dept. of Justice. 2004, 78 p.
This study responds to the recommendation that Canadian research needs to look more closely at criminal justice outcomes in cases of intimate partner homicide. Two general research questions are addressed: (1) Do those accused of killing intimate partners receive different treatment in the criminal justice system compared to those accused of killing victims with whom they shared more distant relationships?, and (2) Has the role of intimacy in criminal law changed over time?
National trends in intimate partner homicides, 1974-2000: highlights
Valerie Pottie Bunge; Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics
Juristat 22, 5 (2002), 19 p.
Ottawa: Statistics Canada 85-002-XIE
Over the past two decades spousal homicide rates have been declining in both Canada and the United
States. The purpose of this Juristat is to address two information gaps: documentation of trends in
spousal homicides as well as subgroup variations (i.e. common-law, separated and divorced partners,
age group variations, etc.), and identification of factors that may be associated with the decline.
Preventing domestic homicide of women: an intervention guide
by Christine Drouin and Julie Drolet.
Co-published by the "Fédération des ressources d'hébergement pour femmes violentées et en difficulté du Québec" and the "Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire sur la violence familiale et la violence faite aux femmes" (CRI-VIFF), 2004 c 2006 , 133 p.
The purpose of this guide is to provide community workers with additional assessment and intervention skills in order to prevent intimate partner homicides. Following a 2002 study that examined intervention strategies of shelter workers, the guide provides a profile of domestic homicide and intervention strategies.
Videos
In collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), the NCFV offers an extensive collection of videos that address family violence. Videos may be borrowed through NFB partner public libraries across Canada or through an interlibrary loan through your local public, academic or institutional library. To obtain a complete list of videos, libraries and distributors, please contact us or visit our video catalogue and Addendum to the Video Catalogue online.
A Love that Kills
A Love that Kills is a powerful documentary that tells the story of a 19-year-old woman who was murdered by her former boyfriend. The video helps to identify the warning signs of partner abuse, and their related effects, especially in young people. The video is appropriate for use by educators, community groups and service providers. (VHS, 1999, 20 min.)
When Women Kill
This documentary focuses on the experiences of abused women who, after years of violence, killed their abusers in self-defense. It explores the reasons behind their actions and their treatment in the court system. (VHS, 1994, 48 min.)
Neil Websdale
Dr. Neil Websdale is a sociologist and professor of Criminal Justice at Northern Arizona University, and is also the Director of the United States National Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative. Dr. Websdale’s work in social policy has contributed to establishing a national network of domestic violence fatality review teams, in addition to advancing knowledge in the areas of community policing and community justice initiatives.
Dr. Websdale has published work on domestic violence, the history of crime, policing, social change and public policy. He has published a number of books, including: Rural Woman Battering and the Justice system: An Ethnography (Sage), 1998, which won the 1999 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Outstanding Book Award; and Understanding Domestic Homicide (Northeastern University Press), 1999. Most recently, Neil Websdale published Familicidal Hearts: The Emotional Styles of 211 Killers (Oxford University Press), February 2010, which explores the stories and emotional struggles of 196 male and 15 female perpetrators of familicide - the killing of one’s intimate partner and their child(ren), often followed by suicide of the perpetrator.
The Annual Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Conference
Hosted by the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children, the First Annual Canadian Conference on the Prevention of Domestic Homicides was held on June 14-16, 2009 in London, Ontario. Keynote speakers, Drs. Neil Websdale and Myrna Dawson, opened the conference by speaking to the US experience in developing fatality review committees and the changes in Canada as a result of increased attention to domestic homicide, respectively. Over the course of the three-day conference, a broad array of speakers presented on a variety of issues, including:
- Risk Assessment, Safety Planning and Risk Management: From Theory to Practice. Jackie Campbell, Randy Kropp and Val Campbell discussed the role of police in conducting risk assessment, safety planning and risk management with victims and perpetrators of domestic violence.
- The Role of the Health Care System in Preventing Femicide. Helene Berman and Robin Mason examined the barriers to implementing practices that identify women at risk and explored the role of health care professionals in preventing intimate partner violence and femicide.
- Profiling Men Who Kill their Partners. David Adams reviewed the research on risk factors of domestic homicides and suicides, including his study on interviews of men who killed their female partners and victims of attempted homicide.
- Kanawayhitowin (Taking Care of Each Others’ Spirit): a Recreation of the Neighbours, Friends and Families Campaign. Terry Swan spoke to this traditional and cultural approach to prevention and education of women abuse in Aboriginal communities.
Overall, the conference enhanced knowledge of risk factors and systemic policy gaps, highlighted training programs and resources, and facilitated networking and partnerships among key players in the field of domestic homicide.
Building on this work, HomeFront and the University of Calgary, Faculty of Social Work, are co-hosting the Second Annual Canadian Conference on the Prevention of Domestic Homicides, which is scheduled for June 9-11, 2010 in Calgary, Alberta. This unique conference will provide opportunities to enhance collaboration among social science researchers, policy makers and practitioners, particularly those in the field of health, police, Crown, corrections, child protection and anti-violence community agencies. This conference aims to bring together expert presenters from Canada and the United States, including keynote speakers Drs. Neil Websdale and Stephen Hart, to share current research on risk factors and intervention strategies, as well as practical knowledge and tools to assess and prevent domestic homicide.
Further information can be found on the conference website at: www.homicideprevention.com.
Key Dates
May is Sexual Assault Prevention Month in Ontario
June 15 - World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
Events
May 17 to 19, 2010 - Prevent Child Abuse America National Conference, Jacksonville, USA
May 27 to 28, 2010 - PREVNet Annual Conference, Hamilton, ON
June 6 to 9, 2010 - 2010 International Conference on Child Welfare and Well-Being, Toronto, ON
June 9 to 10, 2010 - Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Conference, Calgary, AB
July 11 to 13, 2010 - International Family Violence Research Conference, Portsmith, USA
August 2 to 4, 2010 - 14th National Conference on Domestic Violence, Anaheim, USA
September 21 to 24, 2010 - World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, London, UK
October 25 to 27, 2010 - 9th International Looking After Children Conference, Montreal, QC
November 1 to 3, 2010 - The Global Domestic Violence Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
November 3 to 5, 2010 - National Research Day on Intimate Partner Violence, Fredericton, NB
A new committee has been established to review domestic violence deaths in New Brunswick. The committee serves as an advisory body to the office of the Chief Coroner. It reviews facts and circumstances related to the deaths where domestic violence was involved. It has 10 members from a variety of fields, including social work, academia, community, healthcare, criminal justice, law enforcement and violence prevention.
As part of its initial work, the committee has commissioned an analysis of domestic violence deaths in New Brunswick over a 10-year period (1999-2008). The study, expected to be completed this fall, will be conducted by the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research.
For more information, please visit http://www.gnb.ca/cnb/news/ps/2010e0200ps.htm.
British Columbia
The province of British Columbia convened a special domestic violence death review panel from March 9-11, 2010. The panel of experts examined 11 cases of domestic homicids that occurred between 1995 and 2009 with varying circumstances that included impacts on both spouses and children. The expert panel's goal is to provide advice to prevent similar, future deaths. A final report will be released by the end of May. Upon release, the report can be accessed by visiting the B.C. Coroner’s Service website at http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/coroners/.
The NCFV’s August 2010 E-bulletin will focus on the promotion of healthy relationships among youth.
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Content of the NCFV E-Bulletin is provided as an information-sharing service; inclusion does not represent endorsement by the PHAC or FVI member departments.
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