It’s long past time to stop ignoring the red flags of violent behaviour
Borutski conviction, Grey Cup weekend cast shadows on domestic violence campaign
An annual campaign of activism to counter violence against women kicked off Saturday evening with a warning that Grey Cup weekend is one of the most hazardous of the year for vulnerable women.
“We know, very sadly, that this is the weekend of the year when conjugal violence, when domestic violence is at its peak,” said Ottawa West-Nepean MP Anita Vandenbeld, who is also chair of the Liberal women’s caucus on Parliament Hill.
She said she was encouraged by steps the CFL and its marquee players are taking to encourage young men to “not be a bystander” when they see abuse directed at women.
Vandenbeld was among a number of politicians, including Mayor Jim Watson, speaking at city hall to launch 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, which began Saturday and ends Dec. 10, which is International Human Rights Day.
The formal event began after about 200 people, mostly women, marched at dusk with candles from Minto Park to the Human Rights Monument on Elgin Street. To the beat of drums and the sound of African bells, the marchers, ironically perhaps, passed Grey Cup revellers spilling out of bars onto the sidewalks.
The Friday conviction of Basil Borutski on three murder charges, meanwhile, cast a large shadow on the march.
A group called Because Wilno attended with T-shirts and signs drawing attention to the fact 60-year-old Borutski — with a substantial criminal abuse record — was able to avoid attending rehabilitation programs and psychological assessments while his victims lived in fear.
In a harrowing killing spree on Sept. 22, 2015, he killed three of his former partners, all of whom had been the subject of physical violence or harassment.
How do we stop the next Borutski? Minutes after his conviction, a well-known advocate in the domestic violence field framed the question this way: If we can’t contain a man like him, who for years regularly threw up red flags about violent behaviour against female partners, what hope is there for the “garden variety” abuser the system knows nothing about?
“Having watched this case closely, I think ... it represents a condemnation of the general response to violence against women in Ontario and throughout Canada,” said Leighann Burns, executive director of Harmony House, a shelter for abused women and children fleeing violent situations.
“If we couldn’t stop somebody who was so visible and so dangerous, really what does that say about this system at all?”
The “system” — police, courts, social workers, parole officers — knew Borutski was a potential danger, she said, pointing to a victim who slept with a gun under her bed and another who used a personal alarm.
His rap-sheet was a long one: more than 30 criminal charges, many of a violent nature, since 1985.
“These women were clearly living in fear. It was known that he posed a real risk to them.”
We’ve done enough talking, she concluded, in evident frustration. “Starting tomorrow, what are we doing to make things better for all the women who come forward to disclose the violence in their lives? How will we keep them safe?”
Holly Campbell, a survivor of domestic violence, is part of the Because Wilno group, which had signs with messages like “Because, these deaths were preventable” and “Because Anastasia Carol Nathalie Needed You,” referring to Borutski’s three victims.
“This is a classic example of too little, too late,” she said as the march began.
“Why did it take multiple killings for more attention, resources, public officials to turn their attention to this?”
She underscored the difficulties of getting help in rural areas, where isolation is a problem, and the ongoing problem of getting police and the courts to take stalking or harassment issues seriously. “It can be very frustrating.” Ontario has a Domestic Violence Death Review Committee that studies cases in which a partner had died violently in a domestic setting.
It has looked at well over 350 deaths since 2003, mostly homicides, with about 80 per cent of the victims being female.
In nearly three-quarters of cases, there was a history of violence in the relationship.