In a new report on intimate partner violence (IPV), the chief coroner of B.C. says that the majority of deaths are avoidable and calls on the province to take serious action.

Dr. Jatinder Baidwan says that authorities have counted at least 135 people who died as a result of IPV between 2016 and 2024.

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That is an average of 15 people a year.

According to the report, women and Indigenous peoples are disproportionately affected by IPV.

While 76 per cent of all victims were female at the time of their death, 24 per cent of all victims were members of an Indigenous community.

The chief coroner’s office points out that Indigenous peoples make up only 5.9 per cent of the province’s population.

The report adds that most victims are also killed in their homes, with 74 per cent of fatal IPV occurring in a private residence.

The chief coroner says that there are warning signs, but authorities are “too often, uncoordinated, overburdened, or unable to respond in ways that meaningfully enhanced safety.”

The authors of the report pointed out that 36 per cent of relations in which IPV occurred had at least one prior incident with police responding, and 29 per cent of those incidents occurred within one month of the death.

The chief coroner’s team outlines recommendations and says that, when implemented, they could tackle the issue successfully.

“IPV-related deaths are overwhelmingly preventable,” the report read.

Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) tells 1130 NewsRadio that the report is proof that the system is failing women and all other victims of IPV.

“There is no enforcement, there are no consequences for system failure. There is no mandated risk response. There are really no structural interventions that are meaningful,” said Angela Marie McDougall, BWSS executive director.

She is criticizing the government for not addressing the issue and failing to put the recommendations the chief coroner has made before, into action.

In comparing the numbers with the previous report, she says, “very little has changed.”

“The recommendations are saying are exactly the same in the sense of more interagency coordination, more training for frontline responders, more information sharing, data and more public awareness, more access to services. So, this reputation across a decade is troubling,” McDougall said.

– With files from Dean Recksiedler.