Western University is launching a new initiative to help end domestic homicide.
The Centre for Research and Education on Violence Againt Women and Children has helped get a new website off the ground.
A collaboration with the University of Guelph, the site is the first of its kind in Canada.
It collects research and information about domestic violence from across the country and puts it in one place with the aim of keeping as many people informed as possible.
Designed especially for researchers, community organizations and government policy makers, the Canadian Domestic Homicide Prevention Initiative website - www.cdhpi.ca - features research reports, educational materials, learning and training opportunities, annual reports and other resources associated with domestic homicide prevention.
Peter Jaffe, a psychologist at Western University, is co-director of the initiative.
"Information save lives. When people understand the danger signs related to domestic violence, people from coast to coast in Canada understand the warning signs. It better informs them, as police officers, as family doctors, as teachers who have maybe seen domestic violence in their class."
The most recent numbers from Statistics Canada show the majority of family-related homicides - 43 per cent - continue to be intimate partner homicide with women consistently at greater risk.
Barbara MacQuarrie of The Centre for Research and Education on Violence Againt Women and Children says "Awareness is everything. If we don't have awareness, we just stay locked in the secret of domestic violence, we stay locked in those harmful, hurtful dynamics."
The project is funded by the Canadian Women's Foundation.
