Particle.news
Download on the App Store
3 ARTICLES
·
2w ago

B.C. Review Calls to Declare Gender-Based Violence an Epidemic

Attorney General Niki Sharma has launched a cross-government committee to drive the report’s recommendations with a progress update due this fall.

B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma responds to questions outside B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Monday November 27, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Advocates hold signs bearing the names of women killed in British Columbia on the steps of the B.C. legislature on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Nov. 25, 2024.

Overview

  • The independent review finds that 94% of sexual assault survivors and 80% of intimate partner violence survivors in B.C. never report incidents to police due to fears of not being believed and retraumatization.
  • Data cited in the report show more than one-third of women over 15 have experienced sexual violence and over half have faced intimate partner violence in the province.
  • Kim Stanton’s nine recommendations include province-wide, age-appropriate consent education, expanded legal aid funding for family law services and enhanced court processes to ease access to justice.
  • The review urges appointing an independent gender-based violence commissioner and establishing a standing death review committee to centralize data across police, courts and corrections.
  • It calls for new accountability measures such as unconscious bias training for police and legal professionals and targeted support services for men who use violence to help prevent future harm.