Statistics Canada Article on Court Outcomes in Gender-related Homicide Cases

The Statistics Canada publication Juristat published an article last week about Court outcomes associated with the gender-related homicide of women and girls in Canada, 2009/2010 to 2020/2021.

This type of homicide involves homicides that were committed by at least one male accused who was an intimate partner or a family member of the victim, or who sexually assaulted the victim as part of the homicide, or who killed a victim that police identified as a sex worker.

The article looks at how cases are processed through the criminal court system. It also also examines how these cases' outcomes compare with those of non-gender-related homicides of women and girls (homicides of women or girls with no evidence of the gender-related criteria mentioned above) and with homicides of men and boys.

Among the highlights:

• 58% of persons who were accused of a gender-related homicide of a woman or girl were found guilty of any charge in the case. This proportion is higher than what was found among persons accused of a non-gender-related homicide of a woman or girl as well as those accused in a homicide case with a male victim (50% each).
• Of all adults convicted of any charge in a case that had at least one homicide charge and where sentencing details were known, more than nine in ten (93%) persons accused of committing a gender-related homicide of a woman or girl were sentenced to custody, similar to those accused of committing a non-gender-related homicide (92%) and persons accused of a homicide against a male victim (92%).
• Of those who were sentenced to custody, adults convicted in a case of gender-related homicide had an average of 12.5 years left to serve after given credit for time in custody, three years longer than those convicted of a non-gender-related homicide of a woman or girl (average 9.2 years), and six years longer than when the victim was male (average 6.1 years).
• Cases of gender-related homicide took, on average, 603 calendar days to complete in court, measured by first appearance to final decision. These cases took 89 days longer, on average, to complete than non‑gender-related homicides of women and girls and 103 days longer than cases involving the homicide of men and boys.
• In cases of attempted murder, aggravated assault and aggravated sexual assault, fewer differences in court outcomes were documented when the case was gender-related compared to when it was not. While cases of gender-related violence contained more charges on average than those with a non-gender-related female victim or male victim, similar proportions of persons accused in these crimes were found guilty of any charge in the case and sentenced to custody. However, persons convicted of a gender-related violent offence received shorter sentences, on average, than those convicted in non-gender-related cases.