AJAs 2024 Finalists
Nova Scotia RCMP urged to inform public of intimate partner homicides after three women murdered in three weeks
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| Date Aired or Published | Nov. 15, 2024 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | The Globe and Mail |
| Name of Program: | n/a |
| If co-produced, list partner: | n/a |
| Location: | Halifax |
| List awards, grants: | n/a |
| Running time (TV/Radio): | |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: Last October, The Globe and Mail's Atlantic reporter Lindsay Jones noticed several police advisories related to homicide-suicides using veiled language to describe femicides in Nova Scotia. She saw on social media victims' family members speaking out about the killings, describing them as cases of intimate partner violence. They questioned why police didn’t release more details. Ms. Jones began reaching out to family members, interviewing femicide experts and re-reading the seminal Mass Casualty Commission final report in response to the worst mass killing in Canadian history, which was rooted in intimate partner violence. |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: Ms. Jones spent three days researching and writing the story. She spent hours on the phone with the friends and loved ones of Brenda Tatlock in an attempt to portray her as more than a victim but a woman of agency and strength who mistakenly thought she would be safe leaving her estranged husband. The story Ms. Jones wrote was a poignant narrative about the last days of Ms. Tatlock, a 61-year-old mother of four adult children and grandmother to eight. The story detailed the unravelling of her coercive and controlling relationship and the ways in which she, her daughters and best friend – and by extension society in general – dismissed the everyday danger women face when choosing to leave. The reporting also helped pressure the RCMP to pledge to start communicating more openly with the public about cases of intimate partner homicide. Recently, there has been a spate of other femicides in Nova Scotia. In communications with the public, RCMP openly referred to them as cases of intimate partner violence and included links to resources – a small but important step in bringing more awareness to this issue that disproportionately impacts women and gender-diverse people. |
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