SOAN Professor, Myrna Dawson speaks to the Globe and Mail about the enormity of domestic violence in Canada

Last week alone, in just the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area, five women were allegedly killed at the hands of an intimate partner. In fact, a moman is killed every five days, on average, by an intimate partner. This is very concerning since it is a largely underreported so our current statistics only scratch the surface. 

SOAN professor, Myrna Dawson, speaks to the Globe and Mail about the factors in prevention. 

We focus attention on prevention prior to the indcident, but if we recognize the fact that attitudes are one of the key contributing factors to ongoing violence against women, then we need to understand what those attitudes are. Identifying those attitudes so we can start to challenge them and break them down is important - and one of the key goals for the observatory. 

Late last year, Dawson launched the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability, which will document and tally femicides on a national scale, as well as coverage and outcomes of these cases.  

When perpetrators come before the courts, the court's response often is more lenient when they've had an intimate relationshiop with the person that they killed. And that's consistent internationally. 

Dawsone is encouraged by the #MeToo movement that challenges the attitudes around sexual assault, abuse and violence against women.