preventing domestic violence: it’s about more than ......consistent with statistics canada and...

https://femicideincanada.ca

Preventing domestic violence: It’s about more than changing individuals; it’s about changing our communities and society

Myrna DawsonCentre for the Study of Social and Legal Responses to Violence

University of Guelph

Nels Anderson LectureMMFC Research Conference

October 9, 2019


What is the CDHPIVP?• An initiative that seeks to create partnerships which will foster collaborative, cross-sectoral research so that

we can learn from, and share knowledge with, the wider community.

• The focus is on four populations that experience increased vulnerability to domestic homicide:• Indigenous peoples• Immigrants and refugees• Rural, remote, and northern communities• Children exposed to domestic violence

• The overarching goals are to conduct research that can:

• Identify risk factors operating at multiple levels that, separately and together, increase exposure to victimization and perpetration, particularly for specific populations; and,

• Identify and develop strategies based on evidence-based information that can lead to more effective risk assessment, risk management, and safety planning for these populations.


Domestic homicide is defined as the killing of a current or former intimate partner, their child(ren), and/or other third parties.

• An intimate partner can include people who are in a current or former married, common-law, or dating relationship.

• Other third parties can include new partners, other family members, neighbours, friends, co-workers, helping professionals, bystanders, others killed in the incident.

• Domestic violence includes all forms of abuse including psychological or emotional abuse that has been documented through professionals or interviews with friends, family, and/or co-workers.

How does the CDHPIVP define domestic homicide?


Social Ecological Model for Prevention

Premise: No single factor can

explain violence


Intersectionality

An intersectional approachhighlights that gender identityintersects with and is conditionedby other social identities or factorssuch as race/ethnicity, geography,age, sexual orientation, ability –just to name a few.



“One is too Many…”


9590

74

59

82 80

54

6959

0102030405060708090

100

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

NUMBER OF DOMESTIC HOMICIDE VICTIMS (2010-2018)Number of domestic homicide victims


3 11 20 23

97

224

48 36

10178

7 140

50

100

150

200

250

PEI NFLD NB NS QC ON MB SK AB BC NT NU

NUMBER OF DOMESTIC HOMICIDE VICTIMS BY JURISDICTION (2010-2018)

Number of domestic homicide victims


What about femicide more generally?


52% of the total sample involved one or more vulnerable populations

Representation of four vulnerable populations (2010-2018)

18%

24%45%

13%

Distribution of Domestic Homicide Victims (N=343)

Indigenous

Immigrant/refugee

Rural, remote, northern

Children


Identified Intersections

Children(N=55)

Indigenous (N=77)

Rural, Remote, Northern(N=192)

Immigrant/Refugee(N=99)

Almost half of child victims (49%) were killed in a rural, remote, northern area.

Over half of all Indigenous victims (57%) lived in a rural, remote or northern region of the country.


Atlantic Canada

• 56% of victims lived in a rural area

• 7% of victims were Indigenous • 5% of victims were children

killed within context of domestic violence

• 4% of victims were immigrants/refugees

Rest of Country

• 26% of victims lived in a rural area

• 12% of victims were Indigenous • 9% of victims were children

killed within context of domestic violence

• 16% of victims were immigrants/refugees

Does Atlantic Canada differ from rest of country?Representation of vulnerable populations


Does Atlantic Canada differ from rest of country? Victim-accused relationship

60

24

16

55

2421

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Current intimate relationship Estranged intimate relationship Other relationship

% O

F DO

MES

TIC

HOM

ICID

E VI

CTIM

S

Atlantic Canada Rest of Country


Atlantic Canada• 90% adult victims were female• 57% child victims were female• Victim age ranged from 4 to 70 years

• Average 37 years

• Accused age ranged from 16 to 70 years (Average 39 years)

• 33% of victims were shot• 36% of accused died by suicide

Rest of Country • 79% adult victims were female• 59% of child victims were female• Victim age ranged from < 1 to 92 years

• Average 37 years

• Accused age ranged from 13 to 88 years (Average 41 years)

• 26% of victims were shot• 18% of accused died by suicide

Does Atlantic Canada differ from rest of country?Demographic and situational factors


Some decline, but no appreciable dent in domestic homicide rates since 2010, particularlyfor four specific populations examined. Consistent with Statistics Canada and global estimates, domestic homicide in Canada

remains deeply gendered crime with 80% of adult victims and 59% of child victims beingfemale.While sharing risk factors with other victims, the 4 populations continue to experience

greater risks and/or additional barriers that make it more difficult for them to report theirexperiences of violence and to access the necessary services.Prevention efforts have had limited impact in recent years so a fundamental shift in focus

of prevention is required.

What are initial take-away messages from CDHPIVP data?


In its recent 2018 publication on gender-related killings of women and girls, theUnited Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) stated that:

“…tangible progress in both protecting and saving the lives of female victims ofintimate partner/family related homicide has not been made in recent years,despite the many programs developed to eradicate violence against women andthe amount of legislation adopted. Many women still find themselves alone, notonly in the face of violence in their home, but also of criminal justice systemsthat fail to respond adequately or do not have the capacity or knowledge todo so” (UNODC 2018: p. 56).

Locating Canada globally…


Key risk factors identified in research

Intergenerational trauma

Limited privacy & anonymity

Children

Indigenous

Immigrant & Refugee

Rural, Remote, & Northern

Firearm traditions

Migration stressLanguage barriers

Dependency

Inability to report

Concern of being taken away

Lack of Canadian knowledge

Isolation

Economic Issues

Limited services/ inadequate response

Norms conducive of DV

Colonization

Discrimination


(1) A stranger enters a woman’s home; after a struggle, he pulls out agun and shoots her.

(2) A man enters the home of a woman, his estranged female partner;there is a struggle and he pulls out a gun and shoots her.

(3) A man and a woman – husband and wife – are at home; there is astruggle, he gets his gun and shoots her.

Consider the following three scenarios…


22


A man and a woman are at home; they begin to argue, there is a struggle, he gets a gun and shoots her…

The killing occurs in a First Nations, Métis or Inuit community; The killing occurs in a rural region of the province that struggles with

high unemployment, precarious employment, poverty; The killing occurs in a neighbourhood that has a concentration of

racialized immigrants…

…or any combination of the above.

Introducing the role of intersectionality…


What cultural values do our social/state responses to violence reflect back to us?

Do our responses highlight violence as an individual or social structural problem?

Do our responses discount some victims because of who they are and where, how andby whom they were killed?

What legislations, policies and programs do our governments prioritize and support?

How do we, as members of the public talk about domestic violence? What responses dowe prioritize?

…our answers to these questions forms the broader culture in which we live.

Violence is a product of our culture


Public health approaches emphasize the role of structural and social determinants of violence, including:Systemic marginalizationIncome inequalitySocio-economic and political contextsAccess to resources and servicesEconomic opportunitiesSocial and physical environmentsAnd how invisible, structured social arrangements – structural violence – makeviolence appear to be the result of individual ‘bad actors’ rather than thearrangements themselves.

The public health approach to violence


The public health approach to violence


National Online Survey and Interviews with Key Informants

• 1,405 survey respondents

• 12 questions regarding risk assessment, risk management and safety planning practices and work with 4 vulnerable populations

• Key informants (VAW sector, police, probation & parole, social services, etc.)

• 366 interviews with key informants

www.CDHPI.ca 27

227

4

118 214116

59

736 39

6

21 32


Participants References to Societal-Level Risk Factors

www.CDHPI.ca 28

Search Terms No. of Interviews

References

Discrimination 23 38Oppression 35 55Patriarchy 28 44Misogyny 5 5Sexism 8 10Race/racialized 37 52Colonization 30 54Indian Act 6 10Residential schools 63 84Sixties Scoop 19 29Reservations/reserves 142 507Economic/economy 35 46Finances/financial 60 78Poverty 103 228Money 186 397

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