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Researcher Guelph says suicide rates are on the rise during the COVID-19 pandemic

An expert on gender-based violence at the University of Guelph says female suicides have increased in Canada and around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Myrna Dawson points out that repeated closures and lack of access to services and shelters as well as stressful family environments contribute to a steady rise in homicides of women and girls. related to sex and gender.

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“The numbers are showing a three-year increase — before COVID, when COVID started, and as COVID continued — and in that context, that’s something we should be concerned about,” Dawson said.

She said that she is not only worried about the increase in numbers, but also that the numbers only capture women and girls who are killed. “This does not represent an increase in people who have been and continue to experience violence throughout the pandemic.”

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Dawson is director of the Center for Research in Legal and Social Responses to Violence at the University of Guelph. She also serves as the director of the Canadian Women’s Observatory for Justice and Accountability, a group focused on understanding the causes and consequences of suicide.

According to the group, 92 women and girls were killed in Canada in the first six months of 2021, up from 78 in the same period in 2020 and 60 in 2019.

“That is an increase of 32 women and girls killed between 2019 and 2021,” said Dawson. “Canada is not the only country experiencing this steady increase in numbers. It is a global trend. ”

She added that women have been hit harder by the pandemic, with layoffs and reduced access to childcare.

Dawson also says that lockdowns and stay-at-home orders have negatively changed motivations and stress at home.

“However, these orders do not suddenly turn formerly nonviolent men into violent men,” says Dawson.

“Instead, it could exacerbate the violence some women and children already live with and limit their options for how to deal with it like they might have done. before the pandemic”.

Thursday marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the start of the 16-Day Global Campaign, which aims to raise awareness about men’s violence against women.

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In a statement, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said $600 million had been set aside to develop a national action plan to tackle gender-based violence.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have invested nearly $300 million to support shelters, sexual assault centers and organizations that support women and children experiencing violence, ‘ said Trudeau.

“This funding will ensure that these organizations are able to provide needed services and support to those who need it most.”

Data is still being collected on suicide rates for the second half of 2021.

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But Dawson said the pandemic is only one factor and that without real social changes, the female suicide rate will remain the same or even increase.

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“Although the pandemic has changed the dynamics of violence in a number of ways, the experiences, consequences and solutions have not changed significantly, so everything that feminist and anti-violence organizations do,” she said. against women that have been said for decades still applies.”

“Gender equality or equity is the key. We cannot completely stop violence without addressing men’s contributions and men’s rights. “

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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