There is a shifting tide of concern rising among police and politicians in British Columbia as public safety appears to be deteriorating. Pledges for immediate interventions echo from the upper echelons of governance, instilling a desperate hope among citizens for better days in their communities. However, advocates argue that this discourse is overshadowed by a type of violent crime that is both catastrophic and lethal.
In a chilling episode on October 13, a life was gruesomely snuffed out in a Metro Vancouver home, a tragedy well-evidenced in the tangible dread preceding a police press release. While the details of the incident pointed to a familial dispute, law enforcement outlined the perpetrator’s charge as second-degree murder. They failed, however, to divulge the man’s identity as the victim’s husband, nor his concurrent involvement in multiple cases of intimate partner violence.
Public conversations addressing the decrease in public safety often revolve around random assaults, an upsurge in street disorder, and reoffending individuals accused of petty crimes. Simultaneously, they ignore the men and women of British Columbia victimized within the seeming sanctuary of their homes, exposed to violent offenses mainly perpetrated by males against females, all behind closed doors.
Angela Marie MacDougall, the torchbearer at Battered Women’s Support Services, speaks up against this silence, highlighting the invisibility of this form of crime in public safety discussions. She underscores the shared experiences of victims as opposed to isolated incidents and criticizes the suppression and underrepresentation of this societal ill.
The pervasive nature of intimate partner violence cannot be understated, with its invasive tendrils reaching into homes, sending shockwaves of extreme violence and even death. Yet, it goes unnoticed, unmentioned. Advocates like Amy FitzGerald, serving as executive director of the B.C. Society for Transition Houses, rally against the undervaluing of this violent epidemic, stressing its classification as an urgent public health and safety concern.
Organizations committed to supporting victims of intimate partner violence report alarmingly heightened cases and severity of these crimes. Current data showcases a grim reality: only a fifth of these offenses see the inside of a police station. Despite this underreporting, the country experienced a rising trend of reported incidents between 2015 and 2021.
Intimate partner violence saw an all-time high in 2020, as reported by the Vancouver Police Department. Although this flagged a significant public safety concern, it has seldom been mentioned or addressed since then. The crimes, ranging from threats to first-degree murder, exist within a wide spectrum, referred to as “K” files by the BC Prosecution Service policy if it reveals an ongoing intimate relationship between the victim and the accused.
When it comes to communicating about these crimes, police departments usually adopt vagueness when publicizing instances of domestic violence. FitzGerald finds this frustrating and highlights the discrepancy between murders due to domestic violence and lesser offenses. The prevalence of this issue seems to get lost in the noise, with authorities rarely identifying the relationship between the victim and accused.
Recent events suggest a gradual change in attitudes towards reporting intimate partner violence. Advocates praise the Abbotsford police for explicitly stating the relationship between victims and perpetrators in a recent stabbing incident. However, the Vancouver Police Department has shown no inclination to follow suit unless under what they term as “exceptional circumstances”.
Policies that center on street crime and repeat offenders overshadow the issue of intimate partner violence. This concerning blind spot extends to the provincial government’s Safer Communities Action Plan, with no mention of intimate partner violence, an omission that leaves advocates like MacDougall and FitzGerald exasperated.
This glaring marginalization of intimate partner violence highlights the desperate need for a systemic change in approach, a call for an ‘all hands on deck’ strategy to counter the escalating threat that remains hidden behind the closed doors of our homes.
