In June, the London Police Services Board unanimously passed a motion to draft a letter to the Attorney General, the Prime Minister and others in senior cabinet positions to request that femicide be defined in the Criminal Code of Canada.
Megan Walker, an LPSB member and former Executive Director of the London Abused Women’s Centre, first noticed that, while going over a yearly report that outlined homicides and their impact on the community, there was no distinction between femicide—the deliberate killing of women because they are women—and regular homicide.
Megan Walker. From the London Police Services Board website.
“I did not realize there had to be a Criminal Code definition,” says Walker, “because for me it’s always been ‘femicide is the killing of women’ so it’s almost commonplace to think that if you’re a woman’s advocate.”
This realization, along with a report on femicide in the country, led her to the conclusion that something needed to change.
While deliberately killing a woman because of her sex is already considered a hate crime, it is difficult for police to lay those charges.
“Homicide is defined very clearly in the Criminal Code,” says Walker. “Femicide is not.”
The aforementioned report also paints a chilling picture.
In 2021, Canadian cases where the accused was identified, nearly 90% of all women and girls were violently killed by men, with over a third being a current or former intimate partner.
This number increased to 173 in 2021 (see infographic below).#Femicide in Canada increased 26% from 2019 – pre-pandemic – to 2021.
What will 2022 bring? https://t.co/cXI2NE3TNj pic.twitter.com/M9wurV1onr
— Canadian Femicide Observatory 🇨🇦 (@CAN_Femicide) June 9, 2022
“What is important about why femicide needs to be identified separately is that in this country, every 36 hours a woman or girl is murdered,” she says.
“It also validates so many family’s experiences,” says Walker. “Instead of being lumped in with homicide, this is a separate category which acknowledges the special circumstances of women and girls who are disproportionately impacted by hatred.”
Over the summer, they’re looking to gain the input of community partners and regular people who may have experienced the loss of a loved one to femicide before the final letter is drafted.
At the board meeting in September, a final report is expected to be presented before it is sent out.
“I think it’s really important because once femicide is named, we can spend a lot more time talking about early indicators and potentially save lives.”
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