The Ontario Domestic Violence Death Review Committee (DVDRC)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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)

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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• 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.

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Our ultimate goal?

• To understand and recommend change
• OR
• To understand and implement change.

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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.

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