BCIFV home > Overview of Family Violence > 4. Familial homicide
OVERVIEW OF FAMILY VIOLENCE

CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. What Do We Mean By Family Violence?
3. How Common Is Violence In The Family?
4. Familial Homicide
5. Criminal Harassment (Stalking)
6. Effects Of Family Violence
7. Is All Family Violence Criminal Behavior?
8. Application Of Civil And Legal Remedies
9. What Services Are Available In BC?
10. References
11. Resources

FAMILIAL HOMICIDE

National Incidence of Familial Homicide

For obvious reasons, the prevalence of homicide in the family is least likely to be underestimated, although these figures, representing solved homicides, may underestimate the numbers of children, disabled and older persons killed by family members. Between 1979 and 1998, there were 12,767 victims of known homicide in Canada. Almost forty per cent of homicides were committed by an acquaintance of the victim, another 12% by strangers. Incredibly, one-third of all homicides during the ten years represented were perpetrated on and by family members (Statistics Canada, 2000). In 20% of familial homicides, children were killed by parents, in 10%, parents were killed by their children. Women and girls were most likely to be killed by a family member (55%), whereas men and boys were more usually murdered by acquaintances (44%). Nationally, the largest category of family homicides involved spouses (49%). Female homicide victims were killed by husbands in two thirds (66%) of solved murders; by parents in 18% of cases. For men and boys, perpetrators of familial homicide were parents (28% of instances), wives (26%) and extended family members (20%). In over half of all spousal homicides from 1991 to 1997, there existed a reported history of domestic violence (Statistics Canada, 2000).

Partner Abuse and Homicide

Locally, a study of family homicides conducted by the BC Institute Against Family Violence (Cooper, 1994) found that between 1984 and early 1992, 148 persons were killed by 124 family members - just under 30% of all homicides occurring during that period in and around the Lower Mainland of BC. In 29% of family homicides, a child under 17 years old was the victim, with boys representing 17% and girls 12%. Adult males were the victims in 30% of all cases and females were the victims in 41% of cases. In 50% of all cases where females were victims of homicide, an intimate partner committed the crime, and in 16% of cases a parent committed the crime. In contrast, 21% of homicides against males were committed by intimate partners, and 20% of homicides against males were committed by parents.

For both men and women, the greatest risk factor is age. Men and women under 25 are most likely of all partners to be murdered. However, women of the same age are in the greatest risk group, and are killed twice as often as men in this cohort (Statistics Canada, 2000). Firearms were most commonly used by men, in 60% of cases. Women more typically employed knives and other sharp instruments. Men also used physical force, such as beatings and strangulation, 31% of the time, while women killed spouses in this manner only 10% of the time. The use of alcohol was implicated in 59% of murders committed by women and in 30% of instances where men killed their female partners (Statistics Canada, 2000). Between 1979 and 1998, over three times as many women as men were victims of partner-perpetrated homicide (1,468 women, 433 men). Fortunately, over the last twenty years, data collected by Statistics Canada suggest a modest overall reduction in the rate of spousal homicide for both sexes (2000).

Almost one-third of family homicides in British Columbia reviewed for the 1994 BCIFV study came about following relationship separation. Eighty-four percent of the perpetrators in these situations were male, compared with 63% for all other precipitating events. Their victims included spouses and children. Thirty-two percent of those who killed following a relationship separation then committed suicide. Another 34% required forensic psychiatric services. In 1995, one-quarter of Canadian women killed by a spouse were separated or divorced at the time. Between 1974 and 1992, the rate for women killed by husbands while separated was six times higher than the rate for women killed by husbands while co-residing (Statistics Canada, 1996).

Filicide

Filicide is defined as parents, by blood, law, or common-law, killing their children. In Canada, between 1979 and 1998, 60% of 2,000 child victims of murder were killed by family members, 80% of whom were biological or legal parents or their intimate partners (Statistics Canada, 2000). In 1998 in Canada, family members - in 93% of cases, parents - were responsible for 72% of the solved child homicides that occurred that year (fathers, 34%; mothers, 17%). Although rates of spousal homicide have decreased over the last twenty years, the number of children killed by family members has increased over ten per cent during the past two decades (Statistics Canada, 2000).

About one-third of filicides in the BCIFV study occurred following parental separation. Sometimes children are killed along with a parent, usually the mother. But in three-quarters of the post-separation homicides involving children in the BCIFV study, children were the only victims. The perpetrators had not necessarily abused their children previously. Filicide committed following relationship separation is primarily committed by fathers or those acting in their place.

Another third of filicides in the BCIFV study occurred within a context of child abuse. Protective agencies had been involved in every case, and each death coincided with a communication breakdown - between agencies, across regional boundaries, between vacationing and replacement workers, or between workers and the family. Other contributing factors in the BCIFV study included parental mental illness, substance abuse, and social isolation. Statistics Canada reported in 1997 that 25% of Canadian perpetrators of filicide subsequently commit suicide.

As a percentage of perpetrators, more women commit filicide than homicide, although the percentage of women committing filicide is not as high as the percentage of men committing either filicide or homicide. Where biological parents commit the crime, mothers and fathers are equally culpable; where the relationship is non-biological, fathers are implicated more often.

For children and youth under 18 years of age, the highest risk of homicide occurs in the first three years of life. Between 1979 and 1998, 55-70% of all children killed by parents were three years old or younger (rate varies by parental perpetrator, Statistics Canada, 2000). In seventy per cent of young child deaths, mothers were responsible, and in 55% of homicides of children under 3, fathers were identified as perpetrators.

Infanticide is a separate category of filicide in which the victim is less than a year old. Family members commit 92% of these crimes, of which mothers account for 38% of infant deaths and fathers, 49% (Statistics Canada, 2000). Reported rates of infanticide may not be entirely accurate, however. Especially for children under the age of 2, attributed causes for a child's death, such as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or Shaken Baby Syndrome, may in fact have been due to intentional injury or neglect (Statistics Canada, 2000).

Older Adults and Homicide

From 1979 to 1998, the average annual homicide rate among adults aged 65 and over was 16 per million. Seventy-four per cent of older men are killed by acquaintances and strangers. Where family members are involved, the perpetrator is most likely to be a son (41% of the time). Other family members are less frequently represented - female spouses, 25%; other, non-immediate family members, 31%; daughters, 3%. Older women are most often killed by family members, 51% of whom are spouses, 27% by sons; 18% by non-immediate family members; 4% by daughters (Statistics Canada, 2000). It is thought that in many cases of homicides of older women, long-standing spousal abuse is a factor.

Next: Criminal Harassment (Stalking)

This page last updated September 20, 2000.
Copyright (c) 1996 BC Institute Against Family Violence.