While the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) announces that it wants to better train its staff on the subject of strangulation in the context of domestic violence, Narcity Québec has learned that the number of cases having ended up in court for this type of aggression has skyrocketed since 2020.
This issue is also at the heart of an increasingly worrying social problem, because the Montreal police force has also recorded a slight increase in recent years in all events linked to domestic violence requiring their intervention.
We obtained these figures to highlight the extent of the scourge which is now the subject of a pilot project by the SPVM in collaboration with the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP). These two organizations announced on May 7 that they will set up an initiative that is inspired by “best practices in the United States to deal with these situations,” we can read in the press release from the Montreal police force.
Strangling a person is a criminal act to which the SPVM and the DPCP now wish to pay “particular attention,” they mentioned in their communication.
What you need to know: The number of cases of strangulation reported to us by the Montreal police force has continued to increase over the past four years. It has even almost doubled over the past four years.
Here is how many cases of this nature have been brought before the courts by the DPCP:
- 2020: 324
- 2021: 392
- 2022: 456
- 2023: 551
- 2024: 95 in the first two months (data extracted February 27)
Note that these figures only represent cases that have been retained for legal proceedings. This does not take into account events which were not reported or denounced, or which were not brought to justice.
Alongside these specific cases of aggression, the SPVM also recorded an increase in all events linked to domestic violence on its territory. Here is the data we obtained which shows this increase:
- 2021: 5318
- 2022: 5721
- 2023: 6520
*Partial data for 2024 is not available
Last year, more than a third of cases, or 2,344 events, were considered “family quarrels” in the domestic violence register.
What’s coming: Lasting 18 months, the SPVM and DPCP pilot project will be deployed in the east of the island of Montreal. It could then be extended across the entire territory. “It will aim, among other things, to offer specific training to police personnel from neighborhood stations and criminal investigation units in the east of the metropolis, as well as to prosecutors from the DPCP and certain partner organizations,” it is specified in the declaration of the two organizations.
The Center for Assistance to Victims of Crime (CAVAC) in Montreal will also be part of the project. Additionally, it is expected that all parties involved, including victims, receive information regarding the various symptoms that may occur in the hours and days following a strangulation.
In case you didn’t know: Choking, suffocating or strangling a person are all actions that fall under the “Assault with a weapon or infliction of bodily harm” category of the Canadian Criminal Code. More concretely, these are criminal acts punishable by “up to ten years’ imprisonment,” as stipulated on the federal government’s website.
It should also be noted that this type of crime can also lead to the death of the victim. “Studies show that when a person attempts to strangle their intimate partner, there is a significant increase in the risk that the victim will be killed by this same person in the future,” underlines the SPVM in its press release.
Anyone who is a victim of violence or knows someone in distress is reminded that several resources exist, such as SOS domestic violence (1-800-363-9010).
