Manitoba domestic homicide rate highest among provinces By: Ryan Thorpe Posted: 7:00 PM CST Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018

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This article was published 05/12/2018 (2214 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba has far and away the highest rate of domestic homicide among the provinces, averaging roughly eight victims per year, new research shows. 

From 2010 to 2015, Manitoba held a domestic homicide rate of 3.36, which is calculated from the number of victims per 100,000 people. The figure is contained in multi-year research from the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative.

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The study found more than three-quarters of domestic homicide victims in Canada are women. 

“It has been several years that Manitoba has been double the national rate for violence against women,” said Lorie English, executive director of the West Central Women’s Resource Centre in Winnipeg.

“This is the first time I’m seeing that we’re the highest rate for deaths, but it’s not surprising. This has been a persistent problem, so we knew it was out of control.”

The report was released Thursday on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, which is also known as White Ribbon Day. It’s held each year to commemorate the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre. Marc Lépine shot and killed 14 women at the Montreal school before turning the gun on himself. His suicide note outlined his hatred of feminism as motivation for the attack.

While the numbers fluctuate from year to year, domestic homicides — defined as “the killing of a current or former intimate partner, their children, and/or other third parties” — dropped slightly during the period probed.

In 2010, there were 96 domestic homicides; in 2015, there were 77.

During that time, Manitoba had 43 cases, or a rate of 3.6. In terms of province, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick were next: both had domestic homicide rates of 2.28.

Two territories had higher rates of domestic homicide victims: Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, which had 27.82 and 16.75, respectively.

Manitoba also had the highest percentage, and total number, of Indigenous victims. Of the 43 domestic homicide victims in the province, 12 (28 per cent) were Indigenous.

The domestic homicide rate for Indigenous peoples in Manitoba was also high, coming in 5.37 victims killed per 100,000. The only province with a higher rate in this category was New Brunswick (6.81).

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English said a significant percentage of the women who turn to her agency for help are Indigenous, and the majority of them have experienced domestic violence. 

It’s important for agencies to not only help heal the victims’ trauma, but also to take steps to break the cycle of violence by working with perpetrators and children who have witnessed their actions, she said.

“Supporting the healing of the victim is important, but there also needs to be other steps taken. The violence cycle perpetuates unless we break it. The work needs to be well-resourced and it needs to be holistic in its approach,” English said.

“Unless we break the cycle, we won’t ever see these numbers go down.”

On Thursday, a ceremony was held at the Manitoba Legislative Building to honour the national day of remembrance. 

The report, which tracked and analyzed data from across the country for the 476 people slain during the five-year period, also focused on four vulnerable groups: Indigenous peoples; refugees and immigrants; people living in rural, remote or northern areas; and children.

Taken together, those four groups represented 53 per cent of domestic homicide victims. Manitoba placed fourth among provinces and territories when it came to immigrant and refugee victims (nine per cent) and rural, remote or northern victims (11 per cent).

“This report is a painful reminder that domestic violence is a major public health, social and criminal issue that affects thousands of Canadians. We highlight several cases to remind the reader of the lives lost to domestic violence and the family and friends left behind,” the report reads.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @rk_thorpe

Trends and Patterns in Domestic Homicides

Ryan Thorpe
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Ryan Thorpe likes the pace of daily news, the feeling of a broadsheet in his hands and the stress of never-ending deadlines hanging over his head.

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