Advocates concerned as 3 women killed in the Lower Mainland in a week

Warning: This story contains disturbing details and deals with violence against women, and may upset and trigger some readers. Discretion is advised.

Three women have been killed in the Lower Mainland in the span of week, each femicide suspected of involving a family member or intimate partner.

Their names are Stephanie Forster, Harpreet Kaur Gill and Dominga Santos.

It’s a disturbing rash of violence towards women, and women’s support groups in Metro Vancouver are concerned that wives, daughters, sisters and mothers are continuing to fall through the cracks.

More violence is likely in the weeks to come, said Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director of executive director of Battered Women’s Support Services. Women often face increased pressure during the holidays to make things “go well in the home” for everyone — including their male partners, she said.

“They’re often carrying the weight of what that means for the holidays,” MacDougall explained.

“Any day of course, is a potentially bad day for somebody living with violence, but this season a good opportunity to reassess safety planning … and to be prepared to take action and leave if necessary.”

3:07 Woman stabbed to death, man in custody, in Newton killing

Forster, 39, was shot and killed in her car on Dec. 8 in Coquitlam. Two days later, her estranged husband, Gianluigi Derossi, fatally shot himself in the midst of a Surrey traffic stop.

Derossi was due in court this week on a charge of “fear of injury/damage to property” related to an incident in September. He had been ordered not to communicate with Forster, and not to visit her residence, workplace or school as a result.

He was charged with breaching his conditions on Oct. 2. Global News also learned that Derossi also went by the name Reza Moeinian, and was a convicted “romance fraudster.”

According to her family, Forster had learned of his identity and contacted police, but still faced months of torment and harassment.

Gill, 44, was fatally stabbed at a Surrey home on Dec. 7. Her husband, 40-year-old Navinder Gill, has been charged with second-degree murder.

Santos, 68, was fatally stabbed at a North Vancouver home on Dec. 13. Her nephew, 46-year-old Anthony del Rosario, has been charged with second-degree murder.

2:35 Grieving B.C. mother sends message to other victims of domestic violence

“In general, 2022 has been a deadly year for women, a deadly year for battered women in British Columbia,” said Hilla Kerner, spokesperson for the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter.

The shelter has counted at least nine women who were killed, or alleged to have been killed by their current or ex-partner in B.C. this year.

“We want the chief coroner of British Columbia to publish every time a woman is murdered by her male partner. We have to be able to mourn these women, we have to know who they were,” Kerner said.

Forster has been described by her family as an “absolutely amazing, beautiful human being.” She was an award-winning social and tech entrepreneur, and a humanitarian who worked in Haiti, and locally taking portraits of B.C. Children’s Hospital patients and residents of the Downtown Eastside.

“She was just a very, very spontaneous, bubbly light of life — a human being that once you got to know her, you just couldn’t not love her,” her brother Tyson Forster told Global News.

“You know, she literally gave herself to the world.”

Gill had been described by a neighbour as a “teacher” and a “nice woman.” Gill was a mother of three children under 10, whose parents and sibling reside in India.

2:16 Vigil to remember victims of domestic violence

In the first half of 2022, at least 88 women and girls were killed in Canada, 15 of whom were in B.C., the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability reports. Seventy-seven suspects were identified by the end of June, 62 of whom were male.

But most cases of domestic violence go unreported, according to Kerner, because “women know the criminal justice system is very likely to fail them, will not provide protection, and maybe even make things worse.”

“Society hasn’t been able to address women’s vulnerability,” she said.

“Some of those women were murdered while the men who killed them already were arrested and charged for crimes committed against them or other women.”

Kerner said more data is needed on femicide in B.C., which reports deaths from toxic drugs and particular illnesses, but not intimate partner violence. That makes it difficult for advocates to grasp the scale of the crisis and push for change, she explained.

Maureen Berlin of the Ishtar Women’s Society said more affordable housing is needed for women fleeing domestic violence as well.

“If they want to take care of their children or themselves, it’s either living in the street or staying in the situation they’re in,” she explained. “It’s certainly something that our provincial government is very aware of, as is our federal government. We need more housing.”

0:47 Vigil held in Vancouver to remember murdered and missing Indigenous women

According to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth, the provincial government funds more than 400 victim services and violence against women programs that assist survivors, and help with safety planning. There are also nine domestic violence units that pair police officers with community-based victim services, and in some areas, a child protection worker, to improve case coordination.

Addressing concerns about alleged perpetrators who are not in custody, he pointed to B.C.’s Victim Safety Unit, which provides registered victims at higher risk with notification services.

“Once registered with the Unit, victims and protected parties receive ongoing information while an accused or offender is in the community (on bail or probation) and in custody,” Farnworth said in an October statement.

The B.C. government’s website currently urges anyone who observes that another person has breached the conditions of their protection order, to call police right away. An alleged perpetrator also has the right to bail, unless the Crown can justify their continued detention.

“Bail supervisors and probation officers are vigilant in monitoring compliance with court-ordered conditions,” Farnworth told Global News. They also have the legal authority to report violations to police or Crown counsel, who in turn can initiate charges or revoke bail.

Budget 2022 included $22 million in funding over three years to about 50 community-based sexual assault response organizations. Roundtable discussions for drafting a gender-based violence action plan in B.C. began in March, and will involve men and boys with a focus on “awareness and prevention,” according to former parliamentary secretary for gender equity Grace Lore.

– With files from Catherine Urquhart

Women and gender diverse people experiencing violence can access support from Battered Women’s Support Services by calling the 24/7 crisis line toll-free at 1-855-687-1868.

Legal and mental health resources for adults and children experiencing violence can be found on the Public Health Agency of Canada’s website.