2021 Conference

Français: Prévenir les homicides familiaux : de la recherche et des expériences vécues à la pratique

Conference 2021

Preventing domestic homicide: From research and lived experiences to practice

An online conference focusing on the learnings from the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative with Vulnerable Populations - a research project funded by the Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada.

May 11- 14, 2021 – 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. EST daily

This conference features lessons learned from a 6-year national research project on domestic homicides with a focus on Indigenous, Immigrant and refugee; Rural, remote and northern populations; and Children exposed to domestic violence.  Presenters include project researchers and community partners. 

Registration Opens Soon!

Registrations are open!

Registration Fee: $50 ($CAN)

 
Conference Cancellation Policy
Should the need to cancel your registration arise, a refund of your registration fee less 20 % administrative fee can be provided. Any cancellations received after May 1st, will not receive a refund. 
 
Trigger Warning: The conference deals with domestic violence and domestic homicide. You may hear about information dealing with adults and children killed in the context of domestic violence and listen to the voices of survivors or surviving family members who lost someone close to them. This information and these stories may trigger memories of past traumas and please be advised of this concern in advance of registering and participating in the conference. 
 

4 Days of Conference

Agenda

Tuesday, May 11, 2021 

Making sense of domestic homicide data: Definitions and data 
 
Definitions of domestic homicide and the subsequent data collected shape our understandings of these deaths as well as policy and prevention efforts. The data collected depends on the thoroughness and cooperation of investigating police officers and coroners or medical examiners. In some cases, the only source of information is media reports and court judgments. This workshop will first explore issues that arise when defining domestic homicide in the context of our work with the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative with Vulnerable Populations (CDHPIVP) and how these considerations vary across the vulnerable populations examined. Second, we will discuss selected case studies to demonstrate what cases were included and excluded in our work, further illustrating various case characteristics that posed challenges for making such determinations. Third, we will provide a brief overview of trends and patterns in domestic homicide in Canada in general and across the four populations emphasizing the practical challenges and realities of collecting such data and for coordinating data collection efforts across the country. Finally, a moderated expert panel discussion will focus on key issues related to definitions and data for the four populations.
 
1:00 – 1:25

Welcome, Orientation, Opening Ceremony                         
1:25 – 1:40 Setting the stage for conference - Peter Jaffe and Myrna Dawson, voices of loved ones (this refers to the survivor videos every time)   
1:45 – 2:25  Domestic homicide - Definitions and database – Myrna Dawson, Jordan Fairbairn and Danielle Sutton
2:25 – 2:40 Wellness break
2:40 – 4:05 Moderated panel discussion - Moderator: Myrna Dawson. Panel: Wendy Verhoek-Oftedahl, Claudette Dumont-Smith, Crystal Giesbrecht, Anuradha Dugal
4:05 – 4:15 Closing thoughts  –  Elders Dan and Mary Lou Smoke 
4:15 – 5:00

Breakout discussions – join a “Session” to ask questions of speakers and panelists
Wellness session – group debriefing session for those who wish to participate

Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Barriers and Promising Practices in risk assessment, safety planning and risk management: Learning from front-line service providers

Service Providers Perspectives in Domestic Violence Risk Assessment, Safety Planning and Risk Management: The Gap between Knowledge and Practice
Front-line professionals across multiple sectors play a critical role in responding to domestic violence disclosures. Their responses may involve risk assessment and safety planning for victims and risk management strategies with perpetrators. This workshop will outline some of the challenges and accomplishments in our research in completing a national survey of service providers and then in-depth interviews with key informants. Highlights of the major themes from this research will be presented including the results of the survey of 1,405 professional and 366 Key informant interviews. The themes include identifying appropriate risk assessment tools, a lack of training, resources, and collaboration across systems. Challenges are recognized in working with vulnerable communities and individuals. More detailed analyses are provided by sectors including the role of child protection, anti-violence against women services, police, and corrections in working with Indigenous communities, immigrant and refugee families, rural and remote communities and children exposed to domestic violence. A panel of service providers will reflect on the meaning of these research findings with their service sector, jurisdiction and populations served.
 

1:00 – 1:25 Welcome, Orientation, Ceremony
1:25 – 1:45 Setting the stage for Phase 2 research – Myrna Dawson and Peter Jaffe, survivor voices
1:45 – 2:05 Conducting research with service providers regarding domestic violence risk assessment, risk management and safety planning Peter Jaffe, Marcie Campbell
2:05 – 2:20 Wellness break
2:20 – 2:35 Reflections from service providers – challenges and promising practices on risk assessment and risk management (when children are involved) – Mike Saxton, Laura Olszowy, Katherine Reif
2:35 – 2:50 Cultural considerations of intimate partner violence offender treatment in Canada: An exploratory study  - Mary Aspinall
2:50 – 3:05 Service providers perspectives on the complexity of domestic violence and homicide risk assessments, and its implications for service provision within immigrant and refugee communities. – Abir Al Jamal, Meineka Kulasinghe, Sarah Yercich, Katherine R. Rossiter 
3:05 – 3:20 A Discussion of Premigration Trauma and Postmigration Stress as Possible Factors for IPV in Immigrant/Refugee Populations  - Misha Maitreyi, Cathy Holtmann
3:20 – 3:35 Safety planning among domestic violence service providers: A call for an intersectional approach – Meghan Gosse, Diane Crocker, Dolly Mosher
3:35 – 4:05 Moderated panel discussion – Implications of what we have learned for service providers – Moderator: Peter Jaffe. Panel: Josie Nepinak, Verona Singer, Tracy Porteous, Mohammed Baobaid
4:05 – 4:15 Closing remarks
4:15 – 5:00 

Breakout discussions – join a “Session” to ask questions of speakers and panelists

Wellness session – group debriefing session for those who wish to participate

Thursday, May 13, 2021 
Learning from Missed Opportunities to Prevent Homicides: Listening to the voices of survivors and victims 

Women and children across Canada who live with domestic violence may be at risk of severe violence and domestic homicide. Many women and children have been killed – others have survived. There are opportunities to learn from survivors about what worked. There are opportunities to learn from friends and family members who lost someone to domestic homicide as to what might have been done differently with hindsight. This session will offer insights from interviews conducted with survivors of domestic violence and loved ones of homicide victims. These women and children often had to negotiate safety and managed risk on a daily basis and their experiences when seeking help is critical to understand – especially based on their social identity, location and other factors.

1:00 – 1:25 Welcome, Orientation, Ceremony
1:25 – 1:40

Setting the stage for Phase 3 research – Myrna Dawson, Peter Jaffe, survivor voices
1:40 – 1:55 Conducting research with survivors of domestic violence and loved ones of homicide victims: Methodological challenges and realities Julie Poon, Anna-Lee Straatman
1:55 – 2:10  Reconnecting our Spirits (Cree translation of title at a later date) – Renée Hoffart, Kendra Nixon, Angie Hutchinson, Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, Sharon Mason, Dana Riccio Arabe, Jacquie Leader
2:10 – 2:25 Wellness break
2:25 – 2:40 What survivors and relatives tell us about domestic and family violence services to prevent domestic and familial homicide – Alicia Ibarra-Lemay, Sabry Adel Saadi, Catherine Richardson, Janie Dolan Cake, Mélanie Ederer, Myriam Dubé
2:40 – 2:55 Indigenous Mothers Experience of Intimate Partner Violence in Rural, Remote and Northern Places – Alana Glecia, Pertice Moffitt
2:55 – 3:10 Immigrant and refugee survivors’ perspectives on help-seeking, gaps in services, and strategies for preventing severe domestic violence and homicide –  Abir Al Jamal, Mohammed Baobaid, Misha Dhillon, Katherine R. Rossiter, Sarah Yercich, Margaret Jackson, Sepali Grunge
3:10 – 3:25 Ka Paspicik Kitimahitowin Wikiwak (Survivors of Domestic Violence) - Renée Hoffart, Kendra Nixon, Angie Hutchinson, Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, Sharon Mason, Dana Riccio Arabe, Jacquie Leader
3:25 – 3:40 The role of children in safety planning – risks, barriers, facilitators – Zoe Hilton, Alexis Winfield, Julie Poon
3:40 – 4:05 Moderated panel discussion – How can listening to the voices of survivors inform practice? - Moderators: Anna-Lee Straatman, Julie Poon. Panel: Nicole Eshkakogan,

Deborah Sinclair, Deepa Mattoo, Janie Dolan-Cake
4:05 – 4:15 Closing remarks
4:15 – 5:00

Breakout discussions – join a “Session” to ask questions of speakers and panelists

Wellness session – group debriefing session for those who wish to participate

Friday, May 14, 2021
Translating knowledge into practice

Workshop 1: Canadian domestic violence death review committees: emerging challenges and barriers to implementing recommendations.

As of 2021, seven Canadian provinces have developed domestic violence death review committees to provide an in-depth review of domestic homicides. These reviews are intended to identify risk factors prior to the homicide, previous community and justice interventions and potential missed opportunities to intervene. The reviews offer recommendations on how to prevent deaths in the future in similar circumstances. DVDRCs are at different stages of development in Canada with multiple models for exploring these homicides. The workshop will highlight challenges to developing and sustaining these committees and barriers to monitoring implementation of recommendations.

 
Workshop 2: Implications for prevention: evidence- based practice, challenges and next steps

From 2015 to 2021, the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative has focused on identifying risk assessment, risk management and safety planning strategies that are unique to Indigenous, immigrant and refugee, rural, remote, and northern communities, and children exposed to domestic violence. The Preventing domestic homicide: From research and lived experiences to practice conference highlights these findings, which can inform frontline practice. The workshop builds on the conference by inviting practitioners to participate in a discussion regarding challenges that arise from ongoing systemic or social issues that impede change, as well as to deliberate next steps for research and practice.

 
1:00 – 1:25 Welcome, Orientation, Ceremony
1:20 – 2:20 

Canadian domestic violence death review committees: emerging challenges and barriers to implementing recommendations. Moderated panel discussion – Peter Jaffe, Myrna Dawson, Deidre Bainbridge, Stéphanie Gamache, Emily Caissy, Lori Moen, Sara Collins
2:20 – 2:35 Wellness break
2:35 – 3:35 Recorded performance of Songs for Murdered Sisters by Joshua Hopkins; spoken word by El Jones         
  The road ahead in preventing domestic homicides – where do we go from here? - moderated chat discussion   
3:35 – 4:00  Closing remarks and ceremony  – Myrna Dawson, Peter Jaffe, Myrna Kicknosway

Conference Features

  • French interpretation and closed captioning 
  • Virtual Wellness Room supported by Elders, social workers and counsellors
  • A limited number of free registrations to members of the BIPOC community and domestic violence survivors

Project Directors and Co-Investigators

Myrna Dawson, University of Guelph
Peter Jaffe, Western University
Diane Crocker, Saint Mary’s University
Myriam Dubé, Université du Québec à Montréal
Jordan Fairbairn, King's, Western University
Sepali Guruge, Ryerson University
Catherine Holtmann, Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research
Julie Kaye, University of Saskatchewan
Nicole Letourneau, RESOLVE Alberta
Pertice Moffitt, North Slave Research Centre/ Aurora Research Institute
Kendra Nixon, University of Manitoba
Cathy Richardson/Kinewesquao, Concordia University
Kate Rossiter, Simon Fraser University and Ending Violence Association of British Columbia
Katreena L. Scott, Western University