In a continued effort to draw attention to femicide in this country, the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability has publicly disclosed a list of the names of Canadian victims.

The national observatory listed the names of 78 femicide victims who were killed from January to June 2018.

Tracking cases of femicide to understand its causes and consequences is the goal of the new observatory, an initiative of U of G’s Centre for the Study of Social and Legal Responses to Violence headed by Prof. Myrna Dawson. The U of G project is the first of its kind in Canada and was created in response to a gap in Canada’s tracking and monitoring of femicide rates. Femicide is defined as the killing of all women and girls, primarily but not exclusively by men. Besides tracking femicide cases, the observatory will mobilize and share research, and analyze media reports and court cases to gauge societal messages and norms about femicide.

The list, which was pulled from media sources, identifies the names of the victims, their age and location where possible. The majority of cases were reported in Ontario, followed by Quebec, Manitoba and Alberta. Of the 78 victims counted, 12 are listed as Indigenous.

The observatory plans to compile and document femicides from previous years and continue to publish the names of victims to ensure they are not forgotten.

The list has captured national media attention with stories in the Globe and Mail, National Post, CTV and other media outlets across the country.