Advocates say more needs to be done to combat gender-based violence
Posted August 22, 2024 5:00 pm.
Last Updated August 23, 2024 10:58 am.
Advocates say more collaboration is needed among institutions when dealing with gender-based violence after police called the killings of a man in the McCreary area a “horrific act of intimate partner violence.”
RCMP confirmed that 41-year-old Marlon Glover, last Friday, killed the parents and brother of a woman he was previously in a relationship with, while the woman was able to flee to a wooded area.
Police say Glover shot himself and died, while the woman was safely located.
The incident comes just months after Ryan Manoakeesick was charged in connection to the deaths of his common-law partner Amanda Clearwater, her three children and her niece.
“I would like to see our government re-establish the domestic violence homicide review committee. From my understand they haven’t met since 2019. There is a domestic violence review committee in almost every province. Their job is to look at cases of domestic homicide and find out what went wrong,” said Kendra Nixon, a professor at the University of Manitoba and Director of RESOLVE.
“RESOLVE has asked the three prairie provinces to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic. We think by doing so will signal to them and society that something urgently needs to be done.”
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Harmy Mendoza, the executive director of WomanACT says, “Femicides are preventable, we can prevent these deaths. We can do that if we as a system has a better response. Justice systems have a role to play, the violence against women sector has an important role to play, the police has an important role to play, councillors have an important role to play, the health system as well.”
In the McCreary case, police say the woman had a protection order against Glover. RCMP also say they previously took firearms from him. Despite that, Glover not only went to the residence of the woman but used a firearm in his killings.
“This is also a cross-departmental response on behalf of our government. We are not going to be working in silos, we know each of the departments, their particular responsibilities also have an impact on gender-based violence and intimate-partner violence. We are working closely with Minister Wiebe on those intersectional issues that we are facing, including protection orders,” said Nahanni Fontaine, Manitoba Minister of Families.
Wil Hedges, a lawyer at NorWest Co-op Community Health adds, “A protection order is ultimately a piece of paper. A protection order is not going to solve the problem there, the problems there are far greater than what the courts can do or the law can do. Trying to find a solution to that requires systemic change. There has to be a commitment by the people that are in charge to fund research that looks into the reasons why these things happen.”
