Society has role to play in trying to prevent domestic violence:experts
TORONTO — Canadians across the country should remember that they have a role to play in preventing tragedies like the recent domestic-related slaying of an Ontario mother and two of her teenage children, gender-based violence experts said Friday.
Years worth of evidence suggests perpetrators of domestic violence exhibit patterns that make it possible to predict when someone is in harm’s way. Being aware of warning signs, experts said, could help prevent tragedies such as the one that unfolded in Ajax, Ont., earlier this week.
Durham regional police allege Krassimira Pejcinovski, 39, died in her home on Wednesday at the hands of a man she was in a relationship with. Investigators allege Cory Fenn, 29, also killed Pejcinovski’s 15-year-old son, Roy, and 13-year-old daughter, Venallia. Fenn, who had two previous convictions for mischief and assaulting a police officer, is now facing three charges of second-degree murder.
The Pejcinovskis’ deaths are far from isolated. In Ontario alone, advocates say they’ve counted more than a dozen people allegedly killed by intimate partners or other family members since the beginning of the year.