Gender-based violence remained glaringly absent from election discourse, and from national conversations about the economy and security. But Canadians cannot afford this silence from our next government. This issue cuts across public safety, economic resilience, and national well-being.

Last month alone, over a span of just a few days in Ottawa, two women were killed in acts of intimate partner violence. In 2024, the Canadian Femicide Observatory reported that 187 women and girls were killed in acts of gender-based violence (GBV)—a 26-per-cent increase since 2018.

These femicides are symptoms of a growing national crisis.

GBV and intimate partner violence have reached epidemic proportions. It’s time to name femicide for what it is: a systemic issue that demands urgent, co-ordinated action from all levels of government.

To read the full opinion piece, click here.

Anuradha Dugal is the executive director of Women’s Shelters Canada. Aline Nizigama is the national CEO at YWCA Canada, the country’s oldest and largest women’s rights organization.