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NAWL | ANFD
151, Slater Street, suite 408
Ottawa, ON K1P 5H3
613.241.7570 (Tel)
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Violence Against Women
Historically, society has justified and condoned male violence against women. The criminal law system allowed a man to use “reasonable” force to ensure the respect and obedience of his spouse; it immunized husbands from prosecution for rape of their wives; it did not sanction the rape of “bad girls;” and it ignored most forms of child abuse.
Violence against women, whatever form it takes, must be stopped. The defence of provocation as an excuse for murder is one example where the law condones violence against women. Another is the shocking rate of assault and murder of young Aboriginal women in Canada.
The Defence of Provocation
Along with abolition of mandatory minimum sentences of imprisonment for murder and offences involving a firearm, NAWL recommends abolition of the defence of provocation.
71% of all women who are homicide victims are killed by an intimate partner. Men are most likely to kill when a woman leaves or attempts to end the relationship. The attack is a final assertion of control over the woman. In contrast, women are most likely to kill in response to violence by their mates.
The defence of provocation is founded on the idea that the victim has “caused” the murderer to lose his self-control. It is an obvious form of victim blaming. In the courts, any assertion of a woman’s autonomy -- her drive for independence, self-respect, and security -- may be considered as provocation of a deadly assault.
NAWL has spoken out to criticize the law’s sexist assumptions that lay the blame for male violence on female behaviour
- The Defence of Provocation: Stop Excusing Violence Against Women (April 2000)
Stolen Sisters
500 Aboriginal Women are Missing or Dead
Over the past three decades, some 500 Aboriginal women have disappeared or been murdered in Canada. A 2004 Amnesty International Report documented the systemic killing of indigenous women in Canada, particularly those who were young and impoverished. The Report concludes that Canadian authorities could and should have done more to ensure the safety of these women and girls or to address the social and economic factors that helped put them in harm’s way.
Jurisfemme Articles
Winter 2003
« Coalition of Stolen Sisters », by Bonnie Diamond
Summer 2003
“Agency and Urgency: An Advocacy Project on the Defence of Provocation”, by Linda Briskin, Louise Hamelin, Christina J. Hollingshead, michelle elle pettis & Elizabeth Taylor
Summer 2002
“The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women”, by Isabelle Solon Halal (speaking notes)
Summer 2002
“Confidential Records and Sexual Assault Complainants post-Mills: Still Vulnerable?”, by Lise Gotell
Winter 2001
“Update on the Pamela Jean George Case”, by Diane Rowe
Winter 2001
“Rape Shield Provisions Upheld”, by Cynthia Devine
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