The London Police Service Board (LPSB) is seeking public input from the community, as well as from the local women’s advocacy group, to define femicide in the Criminal Code of Canada in relation to hate crimes.
“Without that definition, it becomes difficult to name femicide,” said Megan Walker, a member of the LPSB.
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London Police Services Board seeks to lobby the federal government to add femicide to the Penal Code
At the June 16 meeting of the LPSB, three motions were passed regarding hate crimes against women and members voted to draft a letter to the federal government to include femicide in the Criminal Code of Canada, to be easier to charge as a hate crime. crime.
The recommendation, put forward by Walker, former chief executive of the London Abused Women’s Centre, was unanimously supported by board members.
“Addressing men’s violence against women is a priority of our board,” Susan Toth, president of the LPSB, said in a letter.
“A woman or girl is murdered in Canada every 36 hours. A disproportionate number of these women and girls are indigenous,” she continued. “The board is committed to addressing these issues and would like femicide, commonly understood as the killing of women and girls, as defined in the Criminal Code of Canada, as a first step.”
Toth added that the point of defining femicide is to see it labeled and addressed as a hate crime.
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The motions require London Police Service (LPS) Chief Steve Williams to order officers to investigate any incident where a victim is from an identifiable group to consider whether it was motivated by hate.
In addition, Williams will include demographic information in the LPS annual report that specifically reflects the sex and gender of known hate crime perpetrators and victims.
Toth noted that this section of the motion will be updated with a Penal Code definition of femicide.
“We value your expertise, experience and commitment to addressing male violence against women and your commitment to your community,” he said.
“This is just the first part of what may be other recommendations for the future,” added Walker. “It’s a starting point for us, and other recommendations will come from it.”
The public has until July 31 to submit comments to the London Police Services Board.
The final report will be presented at the September meeting of the LPSB where recommendations will be sent to the federal government.
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