Toronto woman set on fire: Violence against women and girls should be treated as a hate crime

Toronto woman set on fire: Violence against women and girls should be treated as a hate crime

Myrna Dawson
Professor and Research
Leadership Chair, Sociology, University of Guelph

Last week, a young woman died as a result of severe burns after a man poured a flammable liquid on her and then set fire to her while she was on a bus in Toronto in June.

Police are investigating the homicide as a “hate-motivated” act; it is not yet known what police think was the motivation.

Given the victim was a woman, it has prompted many to ask: Why is violence against women not treated as a hate crime?

This question is long overdue and has now been taken on by British Columbia’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner inquiry into hate in the pandemic. This is the first such inquiry in Canada, and one of few globally, to include a focus on gender-based violence as a form of hate.

Read article in The Conversation