Two Newmarket women are being remembered in the annual femicide list, which has counted 52 femicides in Ontario in the past year.
The report is put out by the Ontario Association of Interval & Transition Houses every year "to ensure that we remember the lives lost, bring attention to the violence women, girls and gender-diverse people experience, and take action to move our list to zero through femicide prevention."
The organization looks at media reports and other publically available data too count cases based on its definition of femicide which is a killing of a woman, girl, transgender woman and 2-Spirited Peoples and gender non-conforming individuals where a man has been deemed responsible or charged.
"Each name is more than a headline. It’s a family member, a friend, a worker, a neighbor. Every life lost to gender-based violence is one too many," the organization said.
In Newmarket that includes the murders of Sharon Richards and Nicole Mercer, who were both killed in 2022.
Sharon Richards, 61, was killed in her Newmarket home on Jan. 5. Her 25-year-old son has been charged with second-degree murder and arson in relation to her death.
Richards was described by neighbours as "friendly and a mother of two who was the matriarch of her home," according to the report.
Her femicide type was labelled family and her cause of death was listed as trauma.
Nicole Mercer, 22, was killed outside of a Newmarket residence on July 29. Alexander Jolly, 23, who was known to Mercer, has been charged with second-degree murder, possession of a firearm, and possession of a prohibited weapon in relation to her death. A second man, 18-year-old Maitland Doran, was charged with accessory after the fact of the murder.
Mercer was a mom of a young son and is remembered as hard-working, dedicated and caring.
Her femicide type was labelled as known and her cause of death was shooting, the report said.
Sandra Gauthier, who was killed in her home in Georgina in January, was also remembered in the list of femicides. The 85-year-old was found deceased following a house fire on Jan. 15. Crews found her inside the home and a post-mortem examination ruled it was a homicide.
Twenty-one-year-old Bradley Strickler has been charged with first-degree murder, sexual assault, and arson with disregard for human life in relation to her death.
Gauthier was described as a "gentle and kind soul who was always checking in on her neighbours. Sandra enjoyed spending her time outside, whether she was at the lake to read or admiring her neighbours’ gardens," according to the report.
Her femicide type is listed as unknown and the cause of death is other.
Also included among the 52 femicides this year was Naheed Askaryar, a 64-year-old from Vaughan who was killed on Sept. 23. She was found stabbed and unresponsive in a house fire. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Ahmad Shekeb Askarzada, 43, was charged with first-degree murder and arson endangering life. He was the victim's nephew, according to the report.
The type of femicide is listed as family and the cause of death is labelled trauma.
The report from the Ontario Association of Interval & Transition Houses counted 52 femicides in 52 weeks between Nov. 26, 2021 and Nov. 25, 2022.
"These rates reflect larger systemic issues and conditions that have led to tragic outcomes. Left unaddressed, we will continue on a trajectory that doesn’t prioritize or value the safety concerns for survivors of gender-based violence. Femicide prevention is a non-partisan issue which must be the priority," Marlene Ham, executive director at the organization, said in a news release.
When looking at the people charged or deemed responsible of the 52 femicides included in the report this year, 19 per cent were classified as intimate partner, 21 per cent were family, 15 per cent were men known to the victim and there are 27 per cent where the relationship details have not been provided but evidence points to it being targetted.
The youngest victim on the femicide list was an eight-year-old unidentified girl from Ottawa who was killed on Nov. 12. The oldest is 88-year-old Viola Erb of Wilmot who was killed on Sept. 24.
The report also found the Indigenous and Black women were disproportionally affected by femicide, making up four per cent and eight per cent of victims respectively.
Seventy-seven percent of femicides this year occurred inside or just outside of a residence, the report said.
The Ontario Association of Interval & Transition Houses has been counting femicides for more than 30 years and is aware of more than 980 victims of femicide in Ontario since 1990.
This report came out during the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence. The Town of Newmarket will be joined by local women's shelters and organizations to raise a purple flag Dec. 6, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
