There is no commitment to prevention in Ontario or Canada. For 20 years, domestic homicide death reviews have provided recommendations that can move us toward prevention. It is time to review our progress and invest in the evidence to see stronger social returns. There are successes to build on. There are experts and advocates in every community who can help.
Most femicides are preventable. There are clear warning signs and indicators of escalating risk in 99% of cases. We can take steps to reduce risk before it escalates. The Ontario domestic violence death review committee provides strong evidence and recommendations that can guide us.
We ask that you do everything in your power to protect all citizens from gender-based violence. Your influence and leadership can help us develop an effective community response. We need your commitment to prioritize prevention before the next murder.
So far in 2024, there have been 59 confirmed cases of femicide in Ontario. We need you to recognize the urgent need to help us move forward towards prevention and at the same time increase funding to stabilize services for survivors and their families. Over $100 million has been invested in trying to reduce the backlog in the courts since 2021, but $100 million doesn't seem to have made a dent.
We continue to fund the wrong end of the problem. There is not enough money in the world to reduce the backlog when our only response to violence is after the fact. It is a simple equation: If you intervene earlier to reduce risk and prevent the escalation of violence, fewer offenders will enter the justice system. There will be a reduction in cases, costs and femicides.
To change our current state, there have to be strategic and long-term investments in prevention that span affordable housing and poverty. For that, we need vision and collective leadership at all levels of the system.
The 2019 missing and murdered indigenous women and girls final report and calls to justice provide a vision and a framework for working towards transformation. Gender-based violence and violence against women are rooted in gender inequality, the abuse of power and harmful norms. They refer to harmful acts directed at an individual based on their gender. GBV disproportionately impacts women and girls, and especially marginalized and indigenous women, as well as two-spirit, trans and non-binary people.
It's important to look at the reality of what is happening here in Canada and within our community. In Canada, 44% of women reported experiencing intimate partner violence in their lifetime. That's from Stats Canada 2021. On any given night in Canada, 3,491 women and their 2,724 children sleep in shelters because it isn't safe at home. Approximately every six days, a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner. Indigenous women and girls are 12 times more likely to be murdered or missing than any other woman in Canada, and 16 times more likely than white women.
Violence against women infiltrates every level of society—our communities, our schools and our workplaces. The City of Hamilton was the 34th municipality in Ontario to make a declaration of intimate partner violence and gender-based violence as an epidemic. Today more than 95 municipalities and counties have declared gender-based violence and/or intimate partner violence an epidemic in Ontario. Hamilton has shown a deep commitment to this work, not only by making that declaration but also by agreeing to develop recommendations with WAWG that will further address gender-based violence and intimate partner and sexual violence in Hamilton.
As evident in our WAWG “Snapshot 2023”, which outlines statistics gathered by over 20 member agencies, gender-based violence, intimate partner violence and sexual violence are urgent matters to be addressed. In 2023 there were over 5,993 shelter crisis helpline calls, 1,735 calls to the sexual assault centre's crisis support line, 1,130 women and children who accessed shelter, and over 5,644 requests for VAW shelter beds that were turned down due to a shortage of beds. There is a six-month wait-list to receive counselling services from the sexual assault centre and a six-month wait-list for supervised access program services.
These stats represent only those who were able to reach out for services. As we know, reporting intimate partner violence and sexual violence is vastly under-reported for reasons that include fear of police, court system intervention, lack of trust in the criminal justice system and fear of shame and stigma. We can only imagine the number of people experiencing violence and needing support.
Indigenous women, BIPOC women, newcomers, refugees, immigrants, sex workers and the 2SLGBTQIA+ plus community are disproportionately affected. Rural women in Hamilton are also affected. Even though 43% of Hamilton is considered rural, many of Hamilton's resources are only accessible in urban areas, which creates many barriers for women experiencing violence to access key supports, which would enhance their safety.
Gender-based violence and intimate partner violence intersect with many other experiences, requiring Hamilton to provide further support for equity-deserving groups, including women experiencing homelessness, living in encampments, and needing more robust mental health and additional support. The knowledge and the experience that are represented within the sector are critical, moving forward, to address the real risks, to identify priorities for prevention and to determine meaningful solutions that leave no one behind. Meaningful engagement must begin with a foundational commitment to work in collaboration with individuals and organizations that have long served women and gender-diverse individuals experiencing violence within our community.