We have to call it what it is — femicide

Opinion

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This article was published 03/09/2024 (369 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Words matter.

No one knows this more than Ottawa Deputy Police Chief Trish Ferguson who used the term “femicide” last week in relation to a recent homicide in that city.

In a press release announcing the tragic death of 47-year-old mother Jennifer Zabarylo and the subsequent second-degree murder charge against husband Michael Zabarylo, the police agency made an unusual and hopefully precedent-setting move in labelling the murder a femicide.

The deputy chief told CTV that after a two-year “internal discussion,” the agency had adopted a policy in 2023 to start using the term femicide the next time there is a gender-based killing in their jurisdiction. Sadly, they didn’t have to wait long.

Zabarylo was found dead in her home on the night of Aug. 25 and her husband was charged with her murder shortly thereafter. Her death met the criteria of femicide because it was a gendered killing, rooted in misogyny.

One can only imagine the resistance Ferguson had met during that lengthy “internal discussion” within her police agency to begin using the term and labeling homicides like Zabarylo’s a femicide.

But we can all thank her for overcoming whatever obstacles were in her way, and for leading the charge in what will hopefully be a long overdue but much-needed change to how intimate-partner violence is reported, investigated, tracked, and researched in Canada.

Now it’s time for other police agencies to follow suit.

Especially here in Winnipeg.

With current Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth coming up to his last day in the role as head of the service on Sept. 7, and a recruitment to find his replacement presumably well under way, one can only hope the agency will land a progressive leader like Ferguson.

In our city, struggling under the weight of an epidemic of violence against women and girls, and with some of the highest numbers of intimate partner killings in the country, it should be mandatory that expertise in this area be criteria for the job. Time will soon tell.

Meanwhile, there are some who may question the importance of labelling these gendered deaths a femicide. To that end, advocates assert that by correctly identifying femicide, it will lead to more accurate data, which in turn will create greater awareness and tools for advancing policy and legislative changes while helping root out systemic biases and barriers and bring in more of those much-needed prevention dollars.

In essence, using the proper term femicide will help underscore the epidemic of intimate-partner violence in Canada where one woman or girl is killed every other day, on average, somewhere in our country.

Having said all that, it must be pointed out that the word femicide still does not exist in the Criminal Code of Canada, thus providing legitimate concern for agencies and legal experts who remain resistant to adopting the term.

Despite numerous recommendations from previous inquests, along with repeated calls from advocate agencies across the nation, including the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability (CFOJA), the federal government has not codified femicide in legislation.

In that way, Canada is becoming a laggard.

Globally, more than 22 countries have already taken the move to codify femicide in legislation and recognize it as a distinct crime in their criminal codes. These countries lead the way in recognizing gender-based violence as a pervasive human rights violation and, in using the term femicide, are beginning the process of counteracting the historical normalization and tolerance of violence against women and girls.

According to the CFOJA, when countries call it femicide, they increase public understanding about how and why women and girls are killed in ways that differ from male homicides. It also helps address systemic issues contributing to male violence against women and girls and strengthens human rights by making access to justice more equitable.

Further, they say that when countries call it femicide, they increase their capacity to achieve justice for victims and their families and ensure perpetrators are accountable.

In a province with some of the highest rates of gender-based violence, and particularly in the wake of a recent conviction against a ruthless serial killer who preyed upon Indigenous women, our provincial government has an opportunity to lead the way in calling for legislative reform to the Criminal Code to include femicide.

This, along with the hiring of a progressive police chief who clearly understands the concept of misogyny, enhances potential for addressing the epidemic of intimate-partner violence and preventing senseless killings rooted in hatred toward women and girls.

Rochelle Squires is a recovering politician after 7 1/2 years in the Manitoba legislature. She is a political and social commentator whose column appears Tuesdays.

rochelle@rochellesquires.ca