Canada is on the verge of a historic legal transformation. With the introduction of the Protecting Victims and Vulnerable Persons Act, the nation is poised to become the first among its peer democracies-including the United States, the UK, and Australia-to formally codify femicide as a distinct concept within its Criminal Code.
On December 9, 2025, Justice Minister Sean Fraser tabled Bill C-16, a sweeping piece of legislation designed to pull gender-motivated killings out of the shadows of general homicide. Under the proposed law, femicide would be recognized when a woman is murdered by an intimate partner under specified conditions that reflect gender-based motives, elevating such crimes to first-degree murder when linked to patterns of coercive control or sexual violence.
Disclaimer: This article discusses sensitive topics related to human rights violations. Please be advised.
What Bill C-16 Would Do?
The bill represents a fundamental shift in Canadian jurisprudence. Beyond just a new label, it recognizes femicide as a distinct criminal category. While the final legislative language continues to be refined in committee, the initiative signals that the state is ready to treat gender-motivated killings not as private tragedies, but as systemic failures. Advocates argue that this is the “foundational architecture” required for a truly multi-sector response.
Advocacy and Data: The Legacy of Dr. Myrna Dawson
At the heart of this push is Dr. Myrna Dawson, founder of the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability (CFOJA) at the University of Guelph. For years, the CFOJA has been the primary ledger for these crimes, collecting the data that the legal system historically ignored.1
In November 2025, the CFOJA launched the “Too True Crime” a somber, sprawling project that has now produced nearly 600 episodes.2 ach installment memorializes a single woman or girl killed in Canada since 2020, effectively humanizing the statistics and fueling the #CallItFemicide movement.3 Through this platform, Dr. Dawson has mobilized a national petition urging the federal government to move from recognition to enforcement.
A Global Context: Following the Latin American and European Lead
Canada’s move is not without international precedent. Roughly 30 countries now recognize femicide in their laws, with Italy being the most recent major power to join the ranks. In late 2025, the Italian Parliament enacted a stand-alone femicide offense, defining it as a gender-motivated killing and imposing mandatory life imprisonment.
Like the Italian model, the Canadian bill acknowledges that legal recognition is merely the first element of a public health approach. To be effective, the law must be paired with:
- Enhanced anti-stalking measures.
- Protection against non-consensual imagery (“revenge porn”).
- Specialized training for law enforcement.
- Long-term monitoring of judicial outcomes.
To see a list of the countries with femicide legislation enacted or pending, do visit our Global Femicide Legislation Index.
“Only 11% of the world’s women live in countries where there are laws against femicide.”
Suzanne Wait, Co-Founder and Managing Director, The Healthy Policy Partnership
Legal Framework and Prevention: Coercive Control as an Early Earning Sign
While the naming of femicide provides the legal destination, the criminalization of coercive control provides the early warning system. For decades, the Canadian legal system operated on a so-called “incident-based” model. In other words, it could only intervene after a physical punch was thrown or a life was taken. Bill C-16 aims to close this lethal gap.
Under the new legislation, the law will recognize a pattern of behavior–not just isolated acts–as a standalone criminal offense. This includes:
- The Monitoring of Liberty – Electronic tracking, social media surveillance, and the micromanagement of a partner’s movements or social interactions.
- Financial and Personal Sabotage – Controlling access to employment, healthcare, or family finances.
- The Weaponization of Others – Threatening harm to children, pets, or family members to secure obedience.
Justice Minister Sean Fraser has described this as a “gap-filling” measure. By making it illegal to engage in a pattern of control before it escalates to physical violence, the state finally has a mandate to intervene while a victim is still alive.
Perhaps the most significant teeth of the bill is how it interacts with murder charges. Should a killing occur, the existence of a documented pattern of coercive control automatically elevates the charge to first-degree murder. This removes the “heat of the moment” or “crime of passion” defenses that have historically resulted in lighter sentences for gender-based killings. In 2026, the shadow of control is no longer a private domestic matter; it is now recognized as evidence of a premeditated intent to dominate, and eventually, to destroy.
References
- Burns, Anna. (2025, November 25). ‘Too True Crime’ podcast shines light on Canada’s femicide crisis. Mission Record. ↩︎
- CFOJA. (2025, November 25). The Canadian Femicide Observatory launches “Too True Crime” podcast, with 580 episodes, one for each woman killed by femicide since 2020. Cision. ↩︎
- Burns. 2025. ↩︎
Photo by Daniel Miller, Jared van der Meer, The Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability, Anna Shvets.
