It’s time to address intimate partner violence in Ontario
We are deeply concerned by the number of femicides and acts of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women this year. Recent acts of violence include the femicides of:
- 81-year-old Ulrike Miller
- 23-year-old Julia Brady
- 17-year-old Breanna Broadfoot
- 62-year-old Cheryl Lynn Sheldon
- 41-year-old Carly Walsh (and her two children Madison, 13 and Hunter, 8)
Ontario is on track for more femicides this year than last. Here are some more facts:
- Between January and June, there were 34 confirmed cases of femicide, of which at least 13 cases involved femicide by their intimate partner.[1]
- From November 2022 to November 2023, 62 Ontario women were killed in acts of femicide.[2]
- More than 4 in 10 women have experienced some form of IPV in their lifetimes.[3]
- Indigenous women are approximately 3.5 times more likely to experience some form of spousal violence than nonindigenous women.[4]
- Police-reported IPV rates have been steadily increasing since 2015. In 2022, there were 117,093 victims of police-reported IPV in Canada, with 8 in 10 victims being women and girls.[5] In Ontario, the rate was 257 per 100,000 population. These numbers only scratch the surface of the actual rates of IPV given the extent to which it goes unreported to police.[6]
What more do we need to know before IPV is declared an epidemic in Ontario?
There have been countless research reports on the impact of IPV on survivors. We know that it can cause significant, long-lasting effects up to and including death.[7] We know that the risk of being subjected to violence and the impact of this violence is even more severe on some communities of women and girls, particularly those who are marginalized within Canadian society: Indigenous women and girls; older women; Black and racialized women; immigrant and refugee women; Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and additional sexually and gender diverse (2SLGBTQI+) people; people with disabilities; and women living in northern, rural, and remote communities. We see the detrimental psychological, medical, financial, physical, and social impacts in our everyday work with survivors, and how these impacts make it all but impossible to navigate complex systems like the family law system.
IPV is an epidemic and needs to be treated as such without further delay. Declaring it an epidemic will ensure proper support and services are in place to prevent and address it. Failing to do so will cost more lives.
The first step
The jury of the inquest into the murders of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk, and Nathalie Warmerdam (CKW) released its verdict including 86 recommendations for change more than two years ago. In that time, alongside others, we have called on the Ontario Government to implement the first recommendation by declaring IPV a provincial epidemic. While Ontario has yet to do so, nearly 100 municipalities have.[8]
Proposed Bill 173 would see the province officially declare IPV an epidemic. This declaration is a necessary and important step towards meaningfully addressing IPV in Ontario and treating it with the kind of urgency and severity it deserves.
It’s time for the Ontario Government to end the delays and pass Bill 173 immediately.
Learn more about Bill 173 and declaring IPV an Ontario epidemic
Join us in calling for action
[1] OAITH femicide report (June 2024)
[2] OAITH femicide report (November 2023)
[3] Stats Canada: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210426/dq210426b-eng.htm
[4] Learning Network resource Indigenous Women, Intimate Partner Violence & Housing
[5] Stats Canada: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/231121/t001b-eng.htm
[6] Research showing that only 20- 30% of IPV is actually reported to police: e.g. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2016001/article/14303/01-eng.htm; https://www.canada.ca/en/public-safety-canada/news/2021/03/new-legislation-designed-to-prevent-and-deter-intimate-partner-violence.html
[7] E.g. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cj-jp/fv-vf/rr12_12/rr12_12.pdf
