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The Ontario Domestic Violence Death Review Committee (DVDRC)

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Title: The Ontario Domestic Violence Death Review Committee (DVDRC)


1
The Ontario Domestic ViolenceDeath Review
Committee (DVDRC)
  • Established in response to recommendations from
    two major Coroners inquests into the killings of
    Gillian Hadley and Arlene May by their estranged
    male partners
  • In 2002, DVDRC was established under authority of
    the Coroners Act
  • Our 5th annual report was released in 2008
  • Our committee currently only one in Canada.

2
The Ontario DVDRC
  • Mandate To assist the Coroners office with the
    investigation and review of deaths involving
    domestic violence with the goal of making
    recommendations aimed at prevention of similar
    deaths
  • Review criteria Homicides of a person and/or
    their child(ren) by an intimate partner or
    ex-partner who may also have commit suicide
    following the homicide.

3
The Ontario DVDRC
  • Objectives
  • (1) to conduct confidential, in-depth reviews of
    some cases
  • (2) to maintain a comprehensive database on all
    cases to identify trends, risk factors
    patterns
  • (3) to identify systemic gaps or shortcomings so
    as to make recommendations for improvements.

4
Reviews 2003-2007
  • Total reviews 62 cases, involving 100 deaths
  • Victims 94 women 6 men
  • Accused 92 men 8 women
  • Type of homicide event
  • - 39 homicide only
  • - 37 homicide-suicide
  • - 6 multiple homicide-suicide
  • - 3 multiple homicide
  • - 15 attempt homicide-suicide

5
Reviews 2003-2007
  • Type of relationship
  • - 56 legal spouses
  • - 26 boyfriend/girlfriend
  • - 18 common-law partners
  • Length of relationship
  • - 61 10 years or less
  • - 38 More than 10 years
  • Children in common 58

6
Top 10 risk factors over 5-year period
  • 1 Actual or pending separation (79)
  • 2 History of domestic violence (75)
  • 3 Perpetrator depressed (63 non-medical)
  • 4 Obsessive behaviour by perpetrator (63)
  • 5 Escalation of violence (50)
  • 6 Prior threats to kill victim (45)
  • 7 Prior threats to commit suicide (44)
  • 8 Prior attempts to isolate victim (44)
  • 9 Access to/possession of firearms (42)
  • 10 Excessive alcohol or drug use (40)

7
Preventable deaths?
  • The DVDRC considers a case predictable, and
    potentially preventable, if there are 7 or more
    risk factors present.
  • Between 2003-2007
  • 84 of the cases had 7 or more risk factors
  • 8 of cases had 4-6 risk factors
  • 10 of cases had 1-3 risk factors.
  • thus, the majority of cases appeared to be
    preventable in hindsight!

8
Recurring Themes
  • Multiple recommendations directed at some key
    areas between 2003-2007, including
  • (1) Education
  • (2) Risk assessment
  • (3) Universal screening
  • (4) Marginalized communities
  • (5) Intersection of family and criminal law
  • (6) Coordination of services.

9
Education Recommendation 11-2007
  • It is recommended that the Ministry of
    Education who provides funding for adult
    education, alternative education programs, and
    regular school programs that may involve young
    parents, ensure that education and training is
    provided to individuals who deal with young
    parents in such programs on how to respond to
    suspected or known cases of intimate partner
    violence among their clients.

10
Risk AssessmentRecommendation 14-2007
  • It is recommended that community agencies in
    partnership with government should explore the
    creation of an easily accessible, non-threatening
    mechanism for friends and family to get
    information or to consult with a trained
    individual regarding situations where they have
    concerns that a woman is at risk from her
    intimate partner.

11
Universal ScreeningRecommendation 5-2007
  • It is recommended that healthcare providers be
    taught to be mindful of the dynamics of domestic
    violence and the potential for lethality,
    especially when working with patients who have a
    history of drug abuse, depression, anxiety, and
    suicidal ideation, particularly when there is
    high conflict in their marriage and a history of
    numerous separations.

12
Marginalized communitiesRecommendation 7-2007
  • We recommend that first Nation communities be
    prioritized by government to address the enormous
    lack of resources available to them, including
    making available culturally appropriate service
    providers that would be adequately trained in
    providing an effective response to the complex
    issues facing Aboriginal families.

13
Intersection of family/criminal
lawRecommendation 24-2004
  • It is recommended that before deciding on the
    nature of access, assessment reports for family
    court judges, prepared by qualified assessors
    with domestic violence training, should be
    considered. This assessment is especially valid
    when dealing with someone who has a history of
    domestic violence as demonstrated by a prior
    criminal record for related offenses.

14
Coordination of ServicesRecommendation 11-2006
  • It is recommended that a protocol be
    established to ensure that when Childrens Aid
    Societies (CAS) receive information about
    domestic abuse from other professionals such as
    school guidance counselors, that the information
    be forwarded in a structured way to all
    appropriate authorities, including police so that
    monitoring of such cases should involve and link
    all appropriate agencies.

15
  • No blame or shame culture of reviews
  • a must if committees are to achieve the 3Cs
    communication, cooperation and collaboration a
    crucial element in the prevention of domestic
    violence related deaths.

16
Our ultimate goal?
  • To understand and recommend change
  • OR
  • To understand and implement change.

17
Where do we go from here?
  • Recommendation 1
  • It is recommended that the Ministry of the
    Attorney General take a leadership role in
    creating an inter-ministerial committee that will
    methodically review all community, agency and
    government responses to recommendations that have
    been made by the DVDRC since its inception.

18
Thank you!
19
To register go to https//rabbit.vm.its.uwo.ca/C
onfCDH/
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