5 northeastern Ontario women included in provincial femicide list

Organizations in the northeast say gender-based violence has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that's reflected in a recent report by the Ontario Association of Interval and Transitional Houses (OAITH).

OAITH releases a list annually of women, girls, two-spirit,and gender non-conformingindividuals who died by femicide. Those deaths include intimate partner violence, as well as other cases where men were responsible, and the crime appears to be gender-based. This year's tally, which went from Nov.26, 2020 to Nov.25, 2021include 58 women and girls, including three in Sudbury and two in Sault Ste. Marie.

Marlene Gorman, the executive director of YWCA Sudbury, which operates Genevra House, a shelter for women fleeing abuse, said the numbers indicate that the work Genevra House and other organizations in the province and throughout the country are doing"is not putting much of a dent in the violence that's happening to women in our community."

At Women In Crisis Algoma, a shelter in Sault Ste. Marie, communications coordinator Erin Lodge said seeing individuals from the community on the list is always upsetting, but not a shock.

"This isn't the first time that women in the Sault have been put on the list. Sadly it won't be the last. We're not surprised either by the increase in numbers. We're aware that the pandemic has been a direct cause to an uprise in domestic violence calls across our province," Lodge said.

Lodge said the pandemic measures like lockdowns meant many women were unsafe in their own homes, with few ways to escape abuse.

"The second things started to open up and lift, the numbers skyrocketed as women were finally, had that freedom now to reach out again for support." Lodge said.

From toddlers to seniors

The women and girls on this year's list range in age from twoto 89.

"I think what it tells us is that it exists in all races, cultures, ages, economic groups," Gorman said.

"Violence against women is about control. And until we change the mindset of people in society and we change the way in which they look at gender-based roles, and until we achieve equality for all gender, violence will exist because that control will continue to exist."

Shifting mindsets will take time, she said, and systemic issues that perpetuate violence "are things that we can't change overnight."

Still,Gorman saidshe remains optimistic that continued investments by government to address gender-based violence, and organizations working together can make a difference.