In part three of the Toronto Star’s 1996 eight-month investigation into domestic violence, journalists explore anger management counselling sessions for domestic abusers and tell the story of Arlene May, a 39-year-old mother of five who was shot to death by her ex-boyfriend, Randy Iles.
Hitting Home – Spousal Abuse: Slain woman suffered a lifetime of abuse and Anger Management. Does it work?
Armstrong, Jane. Hitting Home – Spousal Abuse: Slain woman suffered a lifetime of abuse. Toronto Star, p. A1, A6. March 11, 1996.
Daly, Rita; Armstrong, Jane; Mallan, Caroline. Hitting Home – Spousal Abuse: Anger Management. Does it work?. Toronto Star, pg A11. March 11, 1996.
Interval House is grateful for the Toronto Star’s licensing support for the imagery and articles in this timeline. Further reproduction is prohibited without the Toronto Star’s permission.
Contact: syndicate@torstar.com
The Toronto Star’s 1996 groundbreaking investigation into 133 cases of domestic violence and 230 charges lit up the Star’s phone lines like never before. After tracking court cases and analyzing data for eight months, journalists concluded that vicious assaults were rarely punished in a provincial justice system that was “failing at every step, with judges, crown attorneys, defence lawyers and police pointing the finger of blame elsewhere.” Prompting public and political outcry, the series created a watershed moment for intimate partner violence in Toronto. It led to a new team of special prosecutors, dedicated courts for domestic violence and an inquest into the 1996 shooting death of Arlene May by her ex-partner.
Hitting Home – Spousal Abuse: Seven days. The face of domestic violence
Daly, Rita; Armstrong, Jane; Mallan, Caroline. Hitting Home – Spousal Abuse: Seven days. The face of domestic violence. Toronto Star, pg A1, A4, B1, B4, B5, B6, B7. March 9, 1996.
Interval House is grateful for the Toronto Star’s licensing support for the imagery and articles in this timeline. Further reproduction is prohibited without the Toronto Star’s permission.
Contact: syndicate@torstar.com
The statistics Interval House collected include:
- Age of Women who came to Interval House and country of origin
- The length of time women spent with an abusive partner
- Percentage of families whose kids witnessed assaults
- Percentage of women with physical injuries on arrival
- Percentage of women who laid charges
- Percentage of charges laid by police
- Percentage of women assaulted while pregnant
- Frequency of Assault
- Percentage of women who receive death threats from partner
- Percentage of abusers identified by partner who are addicts
- Percentage of abusers identified by partner as having a psychiatric history
- Percentage of women who move out on own
- Percentage of women returned to partner