Re: 鈥淢an killed in alleged 鈥榙omestic matter鈥� in Calgary,鈥� May 5.
This story is another devastating example of how intimate-partner violence is a real and damaging issue in our country, regardless of who the victim or perpetrator is. We grieve with every family affected by it.
According to the 91原创 Femicide Observatory (#CallItFemicide, 2018), a woman is killed every other day, with 66 per cent of those women being killed by an intimate partner or family member. The home is the most dangerous place for a woman in Canada 鈥� she is more likely to be killed in her own home by her partner than by any other means.
Intimate-partner violence is a plague in our communities.
Men who abuse and kill their partners need to be called out and held responsible for the incredible damage they are doing to half of our population, not to mention all the children who are affected.
Societal ambivalence to this issue amounts to acceptance and exoneration of abusers. Until there are real consequences for abusers, nothing will change, except that more and more women will be abused and killed, more and more children will experience the trauma and more and more of our community will be affected.
Reporting on an isolated incident of a woman killing her partner might be of interest and have a sensational edge to it 鈥� but it certainly does not tell the story of the hundreds of women killed each year in Canada by the people they should be able to trust the most.
Joanne Linka
Cridge Centre for the Family
Victoria
