Amid a spike in intimate partner violence in Nova Scotia, a committee tasked with investigating domestic killings and searching for ways to prevent them is nearing the completion of its first report.
For about a year, the domestic violence death review committee has been gathering information about homicides and murder-suicides that result from intimate partner violence. The reviews could extend to the deaths of children, extended family members and others who become implicated in the violence.
The committee’s first report is expected this spring, and it will focus on a single case. The justice minister will receive detailed findings, while a summary and recommendations that exclude identifying details are to be made public.
The committee will eventually review every case of domestic homicide in the province and submit a report for each one, plus an annual report that pulls together what the 14-member group learns about broad trends and themes.
Holly Foxall says it’s an important time to be digging into intimate partner violence, with six cases of women killed by their male partners in the past three months alone.
On average, Nova Scotia sees one or two women killed by their male partners each year, according to an analysis of deaths over the last decade by CBC News.
“It’s clear that we need really radical action to address these issues, so I think it’s a good thing that this work is happening,” said Foxall in an interview.
Foxall is the executive director of the non-profit group We Worthy Women, and part of a coalition of advocates that recently met with provincial cabinet ministers Becky Druhan and Leah Martin to discuss intimate partner violence in Nova Scotia.
Foxall said she looks forward to seeing the death review committee’s report, but she will be watching for action that follows the committee’s recommendations “more than anything.”
Good ideas often not implemented
This is the first time Nova Scotia has created a domestic violence death review committee, but committees of this kind have been at work in other parts of Canada and in jurisdictions around the world for many years.
Peter Jaffe is a founding member of Ontario’s domestic violence death review committee and a professor at the University of Western Ontario who researches violence against women and children.
Jaffe said there are common threads that bind most domestic homicides. He co-authored a peer-reviewed article last year that said internationally, there is “consensus in the field on what needs to be done” to prevent more killings by intimate partners. Better education for the public and training for front-line workers are at the top of the list.
The article reviewed recommendations out of Ontario’s committee between 2010 and 2020 and found four themes repeated time and again: education and training; collaboration and co-ordination; policy, programs and legislation; and risk assessment, management and safety planning.
The problem, the research article concluded, is that good ideas are often not implemented.
Like Foxall, Jaffe said the crux of making a domestic violence death review committee effective is monitoring to see if its recommendations are acted on.
“There has to be some sort of provincial steering committee with government and community members to make sure good ideas don’t get lost,” Jaffe said in an interview.
Although progress is being made to address the issue of intimate partner violence, some say it’s not enough. Alex Guye has the story.
The process for Nova Scotia’s domestic violence death review committee is detailed in its terms of reference. Under the final step, evaluation, there are two questions: Will the committee track responses to recommendations made? How will the committee measure its success?
It’s not clear if the committee has come up with answers to those questions. Chief medical examiner Dr. Matt Bowes is the chair of the committee and he declined to speak about its work until the first report is out. Members who responded to inquiries from CBC News said the same.
A spokesperson for the provincial Justice Department said “it would be premature to speculate on implementation in advance of any recommendations.”
Hard to measure committee effectiveness
Even if recommendations are followed, Jaffe said it’s hard to determine whether death review committees make a difference. He pointed to recent crises of affordability and housing as aggravating factors for domestic violence that could nullify preventative efforts.
“As you’re fixing some issues, other issues arise that make it more challenging. So sometimes I think it’s hard to measure success of a death review committee simply on deaths alone, even though that would be obviously the most visible thing you’d want to have an impact on.”
Ontario’s committee noted in its latest report that the number of domestic homicides had not gone down since it started its work two decades prior, so its chair decided to overhaul the committee’s membership.
Jaffe said there is now much more diversity on the committee, in terms of its members’ backgrounds and expertise, which he thinks is a boon.
“Now we have a very dynamic committee with multiple perspectives,” he said.
He said it appears that Nova Scotia has already established the same kind of diversity among its committee members.
The members of Nova Scotia’s domestic violence death review committee are:
- Dr. Matt Bowes, chief medical examiner and committee chair.
- Josie McKinney and Crystal Sutherland, Advisory Council on the Status of Women.
- Peter Craig, Public Prosecution Service.
- William Collier, RCMP.
- Dr. Robert Strang, chief medical officer of health.
- Nicole Mann, Transition House Association of Nova Scotia.
- Lenora Paul, Mi’kmaw Family and Children’s Services.
- Monica Clarke-Johnson, Mi’kmaw Family and Children’s Services.
- Tiffany Gordon, African Nova Scotian Justice Institute.
- Susanne Litke, lawyer.
- Jill Barkhouse, Department of Opportunities and Social Development.
- Dana Bowden, Department of Justice, victim services.
- Lisa Greenough, Executive Council office.
Link between mass violence, intimate partner violence
These committee members will not be the first people tasked by the government to investigate gender-based violence in Nova Scotia.
In 2020, a gunman in Nova Scotia went on a shooting rampage and killed 22 people — some who were known to him and some who were strangers. The incident started with a brutal assault on his common-law spouse, and an inquiry that followed — formally known as the Mass Casualty Commission — highlighted the relationship between mass violence and intimate partner violence.
Sue Bookchin, executive director of Be the Peace Institute, noted that the Mass Casualty Commission recommended public education and awareness campaigns about intimate partner violence.
She said she expects the findings of the domestic violence death review committee will provide some fuel for that work.
“I hope that there are patterns that are being seen that we can use to inform the public, to inform the services that are provided, and to inform a prevention strategy,” said Bookchin, who is another member of the advocacy coalition along with Foxall.
Bookchin said there are often red flags for intimate partner violence, but bystanders don’t know how to interpret them, or how or when to intervene, which is what makes education a crucial part of curbing the violence.
For anyone affected by family or intimate partner violence, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services. If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.
If you or someone you know is struggling, here’s where to get help:
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