Regional policing model pitched as a replacement for RCMP in Nova Scotia
“. . .
The commission also heard Thursday from advocacy groups for women who are abused by men.
“What is certain in the record before you is that the perpetrator engaged in a continuum of violence, including extensive, serious and varied forms of gender-based violence for his entire adult life,” Erin Breen, a lawyer representing Halifax non-profits the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre and Wellness Within, said of Gabriel Wortman, the gunman who killed 22 Nova Scotians during a 13-hour rampage on April 18 and 19, 2020.
“The experts have provided this commission with data regarding the high correlation of perpetrators of mass casualty events also perpetrating gender-based violence prior to the events. We urge the commission to accept this as a finding.”
Breen urged increased education about gender-based violence and making such education mandatory curriculum as early as kindergarten.
She also called for an end to the police policy of pro-arrest, pro-charge and pro-conviction and an end to the prohibition on restorative justice for gender-based violence offences.
“Carceral systems that prioritize obtaining a criminal conviction over a survivor’s safety and autonomy can no longer be our default response,” Breen said.
. . .”