The BC Coroners Service has released the report and recommendations of a Death Review Panel into the deaths caused by intimate partner violence (IPV).
The panel, composed of experts from across the spectrum of law enforcement, family-serving agencies, victim services, Aboriginal health and crime prevention, made recommendations in three areas, aimed at: increasing public awareness of intimate partner violence and how best to respond; strengthening safety planning and case management; and enhancing collaboration and information sharing.
The panel investigated the deaths of 100 persons who died in 75 separate incidents of intimate partner violence from the year 2010 through 2015 and found that few victims of intimate partner violence reach out to disclose what is happening to them. Even when they do, friends, family, or even professionals may not understand the risks, nor how they can best help.
The panel also identified a need for more collaborative risk assessment and safety planning, and for improved sharing of risk factor information so courts can properly assess the risk in a situation.
The panel made three key recommendations; to increase awareness and education to improve understanding of intimate partner violence (IPV) and how to respond, to strengthen IPV safety planning and early collaborative case management and to enhance IPV Data Access, Quality and Collaboration.