e-3956 (Justice)

Petition to the House of Commons

• Violence against women is a Canadian public health crisis that demands urgent action;
• The current Canadian court system is not equipped to protect women;
• One in four women experience domestic violence in their lifetime;
• One woman or girl is killed every other day, on average, somewhere in our country;
• Similarly, children are being killed by abusive parents at increasing rates, after judges ignore red flags and warning signs and put the children directly in danger;
• Children are not merely exposed to domestic violence, they experience it;
• In worst case scenarios, children are killed by a violent parent;
• Each year in Canada, about 30 children are killed by a parent;
• Mothers are responsible about 40% of the time, often due to postpartum depression or mental illness;
• In the 60% of cases where fathers are the murderers, anger, jealousy, or post-separation retaliatory revenge are the usual motivations;
• Judges need education on what constitutes domestic violence or coercive control;
• A formal education program would ensure another line of defense for victims, as well as preventing violence and abuse before it happens;
• Keira’s Law is named after Keira Kagan, who was killed by her father when she was four years old in 2020; and
• Voting in favour of Keira’s Law, contained in Bill C-233, will not only protect victims of violence and children, it will save lives.