Danielle Sutton presented research this morning, co-authored with Myrna Dawson, on the femicide of older women in Ontario from 1974 to 2012 at the Annual Canadian Sociological Conference being held this week in Toronto as part of Congress 2017. Drawing from the SSHRC-funded Geography of Justice homicide database, a demographic profile of female homicide victims older than 55, their perpetrators, situational context, and the criminal justice response was presented. Findings showed that femicides of older women do differ from those involving younger women, signaling the need to focus on the characteristics of older homicide victims, and particularly women, as a distinct group to devise appropriate social and legal responses to and prevention of their violent victimization. The presentation concluded with policy implications, which identified the need for additional research attention given the growing size, and increasing lifespan, of baby boomers in Canada.
