The number of reported killings of Canadian women and girls by men has risen 11 percent in a decade, even as the number of killings by women has fallen, according to a new report released by Statistics Canada.
The study’s authors warn that the toll on Canada from the epidemic of domestic violence is “untold,” with the number of murders believed to go well into the tens of thousands in the past decade.
The report, which examined the trends and magnitude of the problem, comes as the Canadian government is boosting funding for battered woman shelters to combat the problem as it intensifies in this country.
“If a ‘man pocket,’ defined as cases of homicide in which victims are murdered by a man, is associated with domestic homicide in the early stages of a relationship, then this is a potential indicator of a broader pattern,” report authors wrote.
The authors said that being hit in the head by a man or woman can make it easier for a woman to break up with a partner or run away from him.
The problem of physical and sexual assaults on women and girls seems to be getting worse, they said.
“Across all ages and levels of education, more women and girls reported being physically assaulted by a current or ex-partner in 2011 compared to 1996,” they said.
Violence against women and girls is considered a national security threat and the government has spent more than $400 million over the past decade to combat it.
Most Canadian law enforcement authorities say the main reason for the increase in the number of violent crimes against women and girls is the prevalence of non-traditional relationships like polyamory, threesomes and bondage in the past decade, and the number of people turning to online forums and other organizations for help getting away from abusive relationships.
The research did not look at the origins of domestic violence as assaults on women by foreign husbands and boyfriends are largely concentrated on the country’s far west.
“These patterns are likely to change, as long-term trends in domestic violence have existed for years and the incidents of murder of women by men in Canada are not a peculiar phenomenon,” the report said.
Click for more from The Wall Street Journal.