A police board in southern Ontario is gathering input from the public as it prepares to ask the federal government to add the term femicide to the Criminal…
The London Police Services Board is looking to hear from community members, women’s advocates and experts as it prepares to send a letter to Ottawa. The last day to weigh in on the issue is July 31.
Walker, who is a former executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre, said the initiative stemmed from a May board meeting where she asked if there was a specific breakdown of how many women were victims of homicides, attempted murders and hate crimes in the city, and was told there was no such data readily available.
The issue was also highlighted last month at an inquest into the deaths of three women killed in 2015 by a man they had been in past relationships with. “It’s been a long time coming because there’s been a group of us in Canada, and more globally, that have recognized femicide as a key issue impacting women’s lives, but … the term femicide has not been really resonating with members of the general public,” she said.
Unless there’s official recognition of femicide as a crime, it’s difficult to begin prevention efforts or increase public awareness around it, she said. Lisa Darling, executive director of the Ontario Association of Police Services Board, said the association will support the London board and “advocate as required” on its femicide initiative.