What to know about the domestic violence epidemic

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A mother and her two children were found dead in their home near Windsor, Ont., last month in what Ontario Provincial Police describe as a case of intimate partner violence, or IPV.

Carly Walsh and her two children, 13-year-old Madison and eight-year-old Hunter, were shot inside their home by Carly’s husband and the children’s father, 42-year-old Steven Walsh, who died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds, the Essex County OPP Crime Unit confirmed in a statement on Saturday, according to CTV.

The Walsh family’s death had a “huge impact” on the community, according to Essex mayor Sherry Bondy, and highlights the prevalence of intimate partner violence in Ontario.

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Officers were called to the residence around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, where four people were found dead, according to the OPP West Region X account.

The death of the Walsh family is one of several instances of IPV that have shaken the province. In April, the provincial NDP proposed a bill to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic. Bill 173 — the Intimate Partner Violence Epidemic Act was backed by the Ford government in a rare show of support for the opposition.

As legislators work out how to address the IPV epidemic, it’s worth becoming familiar with IPV, including its many different forms, signs and risk factors. Here’s what to know about IPV.

What is intimate partner violence?

IPV refers to harm caused by an intimate partner with whom someone has had a close personal relationship, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

A personal relationship is often defined by an emotional connection, which can involve ongoing physical contact or sexual behaviour. Partners can identify in several ways, such as a couple, spouse or partner.

IPV often stems from one person seeking to gain power or control over their partner, according to the RCMP, threatening their safety and security in various ways.

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While it is commonly referred to as dating violence or domestic violence, these terms also encompass violence in other types of relationships, including violence towards children or older adults. IPV includes physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional and psychosocial abuse, financial abuse and neglect.

How common is intimate partner violence in Canada?

Both women and men report experiencing IPV, but women face more severe and frequent abuse. Fourty-four per cent of women and 36 per cent of men report experiencing intimate partner violence at some point in their lifetime, according to the Government of Canada’s HELP Toolkit, a guide for identifying and responding to family violence using academic research, government reports and self-reported data and police reported data from 2009 to 2019.

Women are more often victims of severe IPV, according to the Government of Canada, such as sexual assault and threats with weapons, and report higher rates of fear and control by their partners.

In 2019, 79 per cent of police-reported IPV victims were women, according to the Government of Canada.

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What are the risk factors for intimate partner violence?

IPV disproportionately affects women and marginalized groups, according to the Government of Canada, with significant barriers to support and increased risk during separation. Between 2014 and 2019, there were 497 IPV-related homicides, with women constituting 80 per cent of the victims.

Most victims were killed by current or former spouses or common-law partners, according to the Government of Canada, and a significant proportion of these homicides had a history of family violence.

IPV often continues and can escalate after separation. Forty five per cent of spousal violence victims reported abuse post-separation in 2019, with severity increasing for many. The risk of being killed by an ex-partner is highest around the time of separation.

Indigenous individuals, people with disabilities and sexual minorities face higher IPV rates and more severe abuse.

Indigenous women face significantly higher rates of physical, sexual, psychological and financial abuse compared to non-Indigenous women. Women with disabilities and sexual minorities report higher IPV rates and more severe experiences.

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What laws protect Canadians from intimate partner violence?

There is no specific offence for intimate partner violence in the Criminal Code, according to the Government’s of Canada’s Family Violence Laws. Instead, most acts of family violence are considered crimes in Canada, with all relevant criminal offences categorized into several types depending on the offence.

Critics argue that a lack of specialized legislation for IPV victims has exacerbated their challenges rather than providing them with the protection and support they need. Mandatory charging policies in cases of intimate partner violence (IPV) can harm victims by unfairly criminalizing them, according to Policy Options. These policies, which require police to lay charges when there are reasonable grounds to believe an assault occurred, have led to an increase in criminal charges against women who are actually victims of IPV.

“[T]he Canadian government is seemingly hesitant to employ community-based responses, multi-agency, collaborative responses, or to approach intimate-partner violence from a standpoint that deviates from ‘traditional’ punitive, justice-based approaches,” writes Erin Hoffer, a PhD student in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University, in Policy Options.

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In April, the NDP proposed a bill to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic. Bill 173 — the Intimate Partner Violence Epidemic Act was backed by the Ford government in a rare show of support for the opposition.

On June 12, Members of Parliament voted unanimously to support New Democrat MP Laurel Collins’ Bill C-332, an act to amend the Criminal Code which criminalizes coercive control, a pattern of behaviour that can perpetuate domestic abuse.

The latest protections are intended to improve the safety and support for victims of IPV by introducing more trauma- and violence-informed care measures and to fight the epidemic of intimate partner violence.

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