News Release Archive
STATUS OF WOMEN--BATTLING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN A PRIORITY
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The murder last night of a woman in Dartmouth is a horrible
reminder of continuing violence against women, said Patricia
Doyle-Bedwell, chair of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the
Status of Women.
"Her family and our community has suffered a senseless loss,
apparently as a result of domestic violence," she said. "Today, a
woman is dead and her two children are without a mother.
Violence against women must stop. As a society, we must be
totally committed to making violence against women a thing of the
past."
Ms. Doyle-Bedwell said battling violence against women is a major
priority for the advisory council. The council focuses its
efforts on public education, program development, monitoring and
evaluating government action and making recommendations for
future action.
"This particular case highlights the fact that domestic violence
can happen in any neighbourhood, no matter how upscale," said Ms.
Doyle-Bedwell. "Violence against women crosses the entire
socioeconomic range; it does not discriminate."
In Nova Scotia, 43 women have been murdered since 1990, at least
26 by a husband, boyfriend, or ex-husband/boyfriend.
Last year in Canada, 40 per cent of female murder victims were
killed by someone with whom they had an intimate relationship at
some point in time. Nationally, there were 80 spousal murders;
women accounted for more than three-quarters of the victims.
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Contact: Patricia Doyle-Bedwell
Advisory Council on the Status of Women
902-477-6573
ngr September 12, 1997 3:45 pm
