Hundreds of women have been killed during the pandemic. How B.C.’s inquiry could help tackle gender-based violence in Canada

Warning: This story includes details of gender-based violence.

When the pandemic first hit Canada, Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) immediately saw an increase in calls from concerned friends, relatives and neighbours of gender-based violence victims and survivors.

There were even a few instances where youth called in, concerned about the violence their mothers were facing at the hands of their fathers, BWSS’ executive director, and a survivor of gender-based violence Angela Marie MacDougall observed.

“When we’re talking about the numbers of killings that happen with in an intimate partner context, it’s very difficult to to think about that as a hate attack, because it’s so normalized,” MacDougall said. “The problem that we always have in trying to talk about this kind of violence is because … it is so endemic and so epidemic.”

In 2020 alone, 160 women and girls were killed by violence in Canada, the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability (CFOJA) reported. In the first half of 2021, 92 more women and girls have been killed, disproportionately among Indigenous communities.

In response, B.C.’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner (BCOHRC) has announced the launch of its first province-wide public human rights inquiry in Canada, something that can serve as a blueprint across the nation, many say.

The yearlong inquiry aims to “examine hate in all forms” — not only racism and racial hate, but also hate directed at groups protected under B.C.’s Human Rights Code. This includes hate perpetuated on the basis of religion, gender identity, disability, Indigeneity, sexual orientation, poverty or homelessness. It will also be the first to be conducted by an independent human rights commissioner in B.C.

Since March 2020, organizations involved with supporting survivors found an increase in violence of 20 to 30 per cent in certain regions of the nation. Meanwhile, calls to police for domestic disturbance increased 12 per cent in the first three months of the pandemic. Shelters have also reported calls for assistance in more severe instances of violence and abuse.

According to the Canadian Women’s Foundation, the pandemic added a heightened risk of violence and barriers women, girls, trans and non-binary people. Quarantine and social isolation measures kept many in close quarters with their abusers behind closed doors.

There was also fear for survivors on how pandemic protocols gave power to abusive partners and limited the access survivors had to internet connection in some regions as well as space and privacy to seek help from support workers, MacDougall said.

A survivor herself, MacDougall witnessed members of her community in Surrey, B.C. experiencing abuse, stranger violence, misogynoir and anti-Black racist violence.

“I experienced that a lot. Just getting jumped by boys on the way to school … And as a youth there was sexualized violence every weekend,” she says, adding that girls were always blamed for their victimization while boys were never held accountable.

“As a young woman I hated this and I was aware of it and it really didn’t sit well with me but I didn’t have the language to kind of understand it because sexualized violence, domestic violence, was all so normalized.”

It wasn’t until later in MacDougall’s life when she experienced turning points that made her want to be a part in shifting the culture in the world. The birth of her daughter as well as the death of a friend from high school who was raped and killed by a man while on a date set her on a trajectory where she officially became politicized and recognized she wanted to start a journey of taking action in shifting the world’s culture.

“This was about a whole culture, and all kinds of systems institutions that were enforcing and entrenching this behaviour, and that resulted in all kinds of impact for victims — up to and including death,” she says. “It became something I wanted to disrupt within the frame of working to end gender-based violence.”

Since becoming BWSS’ executive director in 2003, MacDougall says that this inquiry — a first in Canada — can help expose targeted solutions to prevent and address hate, especially among women and girls.

“We’re in this kind of very difficult moment culturally, in terms of seeing all of these layers of oppression and systemic oppression that have been operating since the making of Canada, as a nation that now are laid bare,” she said.

When it comes to how this inquiry could lead to changes and solutions provincially and nationally, MacDougall highlights the importance of understanding the root cases of hate, which is something the B.C. inquiry is allowing them to analyze and examine. She recognizes that there will still be challenges, but it’s moving the dialogue.

“Depending on how the inquiry rolls out and the information that comes forward, it provides more space for there to be more progressive ideas coming into those spaces,” MacDougall said.

“With the awareness, we can begin to push on what we need for change and I think that is always about looking at it through an intersectional framework.”

If you or someone you know is seeking safety from a harmful situation and needs help, there are resources available. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

Shelter Safe has a list of provinces and territories in Canada that have a domestic violence phone line that covers the whole province/territory.

The Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime operates a toll-free support line at 1-877-232-2610 as well as text and online chat services.

The Toronto Rape Crisis Centre / Multicultural Women Against Rape operates a 24/7 crisis line at 416-597-8808 or email: [email protected]

Minwaashin Lodge provides a range of programs and services to First Nations, Inuit and Métis women and children (regardless of status) who are survivors of domestic and other forms of violence, and who may also be suffering the effects of the residential school system.

The Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective is a national organization focused on healing and wellness for Black communities.

The National Organization of Asians and Pacific Islanders Ending Sexual Violence has a list of Asians & Pacific Islander anti-sexual assault organizations who offer services for women, girls and children.

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