Deaths from domestic violence are increasing in the Canadian Province of British Columbia (BC). Eighteen people have died in 2014 as a result of violence in the family, the highest recorded number in BC since 2007. The organization Ending Violence Association (EVA) of BC released the statistics in a September 2014 report that calls on the government of BC to increase spending on collaborative and community-based programs to prevent domestic violence.

At the report’s release on September 3, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, BC’s independent Representative for Children and Youth, noted that the informal domestic violence court in BC was “an embarrassment” compared to the official domestic violence courts in the province of Alberta. Additionally, abused women in BC must pay $200 to the court for protective orders and “hire a security service to serve the order.”

EVA of BC said that while BC had made some progress in combating domestic violence, the province did not invest the resources needed to support effective domestic violence prevention programs in all BC communities. The group said a lack of access to support and protective services leaves many women, particularly indigenous women in BC, vulnerable to violence.

Compiled from: Meissner, Dirk, 18 killed in B.C. domestic violence incidents in 2014, report says, The Globe and Mail (September 3, 2014); B.C. domestic violence deaths rising: advocacy group, Government called on to put more resources into support and prevention, CBC News (September 3, 2014); Ending Violence Association of BC, Press Release, Seven Years After Oak Bay: Domestic Violence Still Takes Its Toll in BC (September 3, 2014).