Advocates are pushing for the term femicide to be added to Canada’s Criminal Code, saying it would help raise awareness on the issue.
In 2020, a report by the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability found that one woman or girl is killed every two and a half days in Canada. Femicide refers to homicides that target women and girls because of their gender.
Understanding the violence females face specifically, advocates are hoping for more awareness of femicide at the federal level.
«It’s really important that we name femicide,» Jennifer Hutton, CEO of Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region, Ont, said. «There are some unique traits about femicide. It’s really about men’s violence against women.»
Hutton believes femicide should be in the Criminal Code to prevent tragedies through better understanding.
«Until we name it, then how can we change it?» she said.»When it’s a separate part of the Criminal Code, then we have better data to track it, so we know just how prevalent it really is.»
Femicide can include instances when a woman or girl is killed by an intimate partner, a non-intimate partner, or in an armed conflict. The term can also include women who are not the intended victim, but are killed in the femicide of another woman, too.
For Indigenous women and girls, Hutton says they are killed at six times the rate of non-Indigenous women and girls.
Hutton is partnering with Jenna Mayne, who hosts the podcast «She is Your Neighbour» focusing on femicide in Canada.
«We hear from survivors, we hear from family members who have lost women to femicide, and we hear from experts,» Mayne said. «I think these stories are difficult to hear, but they’re so important to hear too.»