Mandatory inquests needed for women killed despite protection orders: advocates [Video]

Advocates are calling for mandatory coroner’s inquests into the deaths of women who were killed by abusive partners despite filing protection orders against them.

It comes after more than 20 B.C. women died due to gender-based violence in 2023, according to the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability, with advocates saying the province is on track for similar numbers this year.

A report from Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS), a B.C.-based charity for victims of intimate partner violence (IPV), calls for police to treat breaches of protection orders more seriously.

Survivors of domestic violence are quoted in the report saying that abusers rarely faced consequences for falling afoul of the court orders which are meant to protect victims.

Angela Marie MacDougall, BWSS executive director, said the impetus for …