Femicides in Quebec: advocates want more resources, better training

If you need help, reach out. Call SOS violence conjugale 24/7 at 1-800-363-9010.

If you fear you may become violent towards your partner, call PRO-GAM for an appointment at 514-270-8462.

Femicides and infanticides have been sharply on the rise in Canada, and advocates are hoping for added resources in 2023 to combat the trend.

The Canadian Femicide Observatory reports 173 women and girls were killed by violence in 2021 – a 26 per cent increase over the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

In 2022, at least 13 women and six children were killed in Quebec because of intimate partner violence.

And it may be even higher than those 19 deaths. SOS Violence Conjugale counts another woman who committed suicide after her offender got a light sentence and she was scared for her life. Also included in their total was a man killed by his partner’s abusive ex-partner.

“Those of us working in this field have been saying it for a while, that once the pandemic was over, we (would) see an increase in domestic violence and intimate partner violence,” said Linda Basque with Info-Femmes.

“And unfortunately also in femicides. Because that control that intimate partners had on their on the women was slipping away and they would try and gain it back.”

WATCH: Vigil for Synthia Bussières and her two children

By late September, Quebec saw nearly one femicide a week for two months.

One of them was Synthia Bussières and her two young boys, who were killed in Brossard, south of Montreal.

In October, a man living in Laval, north of Montreal, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his daughter Anzel, 13, and son Aaron, 11. He was also charged with one count of assaulting his wife by strangulation.

WATCH: Community left shaken over murders of two Quebec children in Laval

“It really brings to light how bad the situation has gotten and how much work there is to be done,” said Zena Chaudhry, the founder and CEO of Sakeenah Home. “There are so many great things out there being done, but any woman, any child who dies like this, we know that there’s still a lot of work to be done. This should never happen. The stats should be zero across the board, not only in Quebec or Ontario or Canada. It should be zero women and children die in this manner because of this.

“We should never let it get that bad. Where people are dying because of this. Where people are feeling like they have to stay because of financial issues. Where they feel like they have to stay because there’s no way out. Because they have no support. They have nowhere else to go. It’s devastating to a community as a whole.”

READ MORE:

• Montrealers march for victims of domestic violence, femicides
• ‘Scared it’s becoming commonplace’ says women’s advocate after Quebec femicide
• SPVM unveils new unit specialized for complex complaints of intimate partner violence
• Intimate partner violence rose during pandemic with no sign of slowing: study

Many organizations, like Info-Femmes in Montreal and Sakeenah – with branches across Canada – are working to prevent this kind of violence.

“Since our inception in 2018, we’ve helped over 12,000 Canadians,” said Chaudhry. “But even missing one person, even one person who dies because of this and we didn’t get to reach them is a failure.”

More resources and training for first responders and collaboration with community groups and governments are just some of the demands for 2023.

“I’m hoping that we’ll keep talking about it, raising awareness and that these will lead to changes in how we view women in society,” said Basque.