Canada makes femicide first-degree murder as all three major Criminal Code reforms become law

WeEatBabies · 2026-06-20T22:26:39+00:00

They could have made the law gender neutral and made unaliving your partner first degree murder for all.

But feminists don't want equality!

sptrstmenwpls · 2026-06-20T22:18:15+00:00

Hoping for some clarification. Yeah the article talks about more protections for women specifically, but theoretically wouldn't the wording of the actual laws also apply equally to women as perps against men. Again, I'm talking in theory, we already know how it is in practice.

For example:

"create a new offence of coercive control in intimate relationships, targeting patterns of threats, isolation, or manipulation before violence escalates"

and

"update criminal harassment provisions to make them easier to prove in court"

...seems that would work both ways and isn't Any more advantageous to women than male victims.

Also, I'm mostly little confused by how this is worded:

"make femicide first degree murder, the most serious homicide offence"

Is this only one sided? Is it automatically 1st degree only if a man kills his wife, but not vice-versa? Would it not be the same for homicide in the very same context? I find this line confusing & vague in that regard. Besides, why even use gendered terminology here to begin with?

EDIT:

Wow ok, dug deeper and YES this law literally means murder of women will be prosecuted differently, more seriously & prejudicially than that of men.

"Femicide, including of intimate partner, and other aggravated circumstances.” The provision would stipulate that, irrespective of whether murder is planned and deliberate, it is to be treated as first-degree in four new circumstances......the provision would apply when the perpetrator committed murder while motivated by hate based on “colour, race, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or mental or physical disability."

Regarding that last part, basically they are using a built-in loophole in the Charter of Rights & Freedoms (in practice with all the loopholes it's become a useless document), which will lead to murder of a female partner being classed as 1st degree whether planned or not. Only women. (full context below) Classification under hate-basis never applies to men.

As if men weren't already 2nd class & less valued members of society this enshrines it in law. I'm absolutely shocked this is happening in 20fucking26. What's next, men will eventually have to drink from designating drinking fountains?

Source: https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/pl/charter-charte/c16_3.html

From the text (copy-paste due to the overall length of the document & non-relevant text):

Murder – femicide, including of intimate partner, and other aggravated circumstances

The bill would amend section 231 of the Criminal Code, which classifies murder into first- and second-degree murder, by adding a new subsection described as “Femicide, including of intimate partner, and other aggravated circumstances.” The provision would stipulate that, irrespective of whether murder is planned and deliberate, it is to be treated as first-degree in four new circumstances. First, the provision would apply to the murder of an intimate partner who was subjected to a pattern of coercive or controlling conduct, where the perpetrator intended to cause the victim to believe their physical or psychological safety was threatened. Second, the provision would apply when the perpetrator murdered the victim while controlling, directing or influencing the victim’s movements with the intent to exploit them, within the meaning of the human trafficking provisions in the Criminal Code. Third, the provision would apply when the perpetrator murdered the victim while committing or attempting to commit any offence of a sexual nature or for a sexual purpose. Finally, the provision would apply when the perpetrator committed murder while motivated by hate based on “colour, race, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or mental or physical disability.

Both first-degree and second-degree murder carry a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, but people convicted of first-degree murder are not eligible to apply for parole until they have served 25 years in custody. By contrast, sentencing courts have discretion to set the parole ineligibility period for people convicted of second-degree murder between 10 and 25 years (unless the individual was previously convicted of murder). These amendments would, in certain cases, affect an offender’s liberty by requiring a longer period of imprisonment, and thus would engage section 7 and may engage section 12 of the Charter.

The following considerations support the consistency of the amendments with the Charter. The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized that Parliament is entitled to identify certain classes of murder as particularly blameworthy and deserving of strong societal condemnation. The Court has upheld existing provisions that deem murder to be first-degree murder when it is committed in connection with “crimes of domination” such as kidnapping and forcible confinement. A similar rationale would underpin the amendments regarding murder of an intimate partner committed during or after engaging in a pattern of coercive or controlling conduct, murder committed in the context of human trafficking, and murder committed in the context of a sexual offence. These three circumstances all involve unlawful control, or attempts to exercise unlawful control, over the victim. The amendments proposed in the bill would reflect Parliament’s judgement that committing murder in such circumstances involves an added degree of moral culpability and therefore merits the most severe punishment in Canadian criminal law.

Similarly, the amendment regarding hate-motivated murder reflects an equally important objective. It would align with the principle, already codified in the Criminal Code, that evidence that an offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on protected characteristics is an aggravating factor upon sentencing. Hate-motivated murders strike at the community’s sense of safety in a particularly grievous and destabilizing way, sending the message that some people are less safe because of their sex, race, religion, sexual orientation or other factors. Parliament’s decision to designate these murders as first-degree murder recognizes their particular seriousness.

SarcasticallyCandour · 2026-06-20T21:48:24+00:00

I've long seen feminism and progressives at large pushing for different punishments and different laws holding different demographics of people to different levels of responsibility. Especially in the last 15-20 years.

I'm not against harsh sentences for men who abuse women. What I'm against is feminists fight for lighter sentences for women such as the UK sentencing guidelines tell judges not to send women to prison, and feminists are currently fighting to close women's prisons in UK. they also fight for female teachers to get away with rape because it's them who fights against laws being made more equal in sexual offenses. There's no reason a female offender such as a teacher should be a rapist is penetration takes place.

So while feminists fight for harsher sentences for men (which Im not against) they simultaneously fight for lighter punishments for women.

Plus-Meaning-7484 · 2026-06-20T23:38:44+00:00

This law was written with gender neutral terms. Yet the governments press release and their effort to pass this law is caked in misnadry and bigotry of men and boys.

At no point in this process has the word Androcide been mentioned. I would doubt a single MP is aware of that term.

This law and it's wording is generally gender neutral. But due to the gendered nature of the public release and framing of why this law is necessary. It very likely will become an established statistic for them to point to on how many "femicides" there are.

Canada funds a Femicide Observatory. Nearly every women killed by a man is considered to have died by femicide. This law will only be used to further entrench the idea athat GBV is perpetrated by men against women. It very likely will over classify murders as femicide. As they will look for the weakest amount of evidence to classify it as such.

Remember they don't actually want to end femicides in any practical way. They will just use this as a further way to beat down the idea that gender equality should be inclusive of men and boys. Remember only 20 men died of IPV last year in Canada, to them that's nothing compared to the 60 women

DreamTurtle1 · 2026-06-20T22:52:40+00:00

They made a similar law in Italy I believe which conflicts with an article in the constitution that states that all citizens are equal for the law!

Illustrious_Date8697 · 2026-06-21T02:34:21+00:00

I dont think you guys fully understand how egregious this is. I got this from quickly reading some recommendations.

Measures Addressing Perpetrators of IPV 32. Establish a province-wide 24/7 hotline for men who need support to prevent them from engaging in IPV.

And

Ensure that IPV-related public education campaigns address IPV perpetration and should include men’s voices, represent men’s experiences, and prompt men to seek help to address their own abusive behaviours.

So we are actively painting men as evil whilst writing legislation. Okay, whatever, its just another Saturday.

Did anyone stop to think what happens in gay/lesbian relationships?

If only men can be perpertrators and women can only be victims, does the whole system fall apart when looking at non heterosexual relationships?

Also, what do we classify as men? If a trans woman unalives her partner, can be classed as femicide?

This whole law is just ignorant feminist hatred.

Punder_man · 2026-06-20T23:37:24+00:00

And what exactly is the bar used to decide whether a woman was killed EXPLICITLY because of her gender rather than other factors?

The answer is, there is none, in their minds any time a woman is killed at all the default assumption is "Femicide"

Yet watch as women are still only convicted of "Homicide" and even then you still need to prove intent..
Mean while under this new law if you kill a woman your intent does not matter, you murdered the most protected class in existence: "Women" and for that you will be sentenced as though you had planned to do so all along..

So gents, how long until our society actually implodes from men checking out?

Far-Independent4740 · 2026-06-21T06:18:59+00:00

Studies have repeatedly shown that women perpetrate physical abuse as much as men do. However, because of social stigma and the physicality gap, women get away with it mostly unpunished.

Let's apply the law consistently please.

Organic-Mud-8728 · 2026-06-21T00:29:40+00:00

What about men?

rabel111 · 2026-06-21T01:35:01+00:00

Democracy is dead in Canada. Now you will be treated differently by law, depending on your sex, race religion or political affiliations.

Canaada has officially become a fascist state. God help you all.

brainzhurtin · 2026-06-21T01:35:10+00:00

Do you move to another country or just accept that the feminists have won, and you are their bitch?

Because fighting for equality by men is not happening in these countries.

AbysmalDescent · 2026-06-21T04:30:18+00:00

This is pretty disturbing to me, because it's clear that this is effectively coming a place that describes all violence against women, or women being murdered, as gender-based crimes. This is wrong, and effectively demonstrating that a woman's life would effectively be held at a higher value than a man's, by law.

Current_Finding_4066 · 2026-06-21T05:53:21+00:00

Sure, treating one gender as deserving of Better protection is just what we need.

Late-Hat-9144 · 2026-06-21T05:26:57+00:00

While I agree murdering your spouse should be (and where I live is) considered a capital crime, it saddens me to see only violence against women being held to this standard - it's an inherently biased law because it does not hold women to the same level of accountability

bifewova234 · 2026-06-21T00:53:21+00:00

This bill also classifies it as first degree murder when the genders are reversed. Im figuring that its being shown in a female friendly way in press releases for political reasons but when you look at the actual code it does not make limit the crime to female victims based on hatred of females, perhaps for constituional or other reasons.

(b) provide that, in the following circumstances, murder — known as femicide when committed against a female person — is murder in the first degree: (i) the murder is committed against an intimate partner in the context of a pattern of coercive or controlling conduct, (ii) the murder is committed in the context of sexual violence, (iii) the murder is committed in the context of human trafficking, or (iv) the murder is motivated by hate;

[...]

Femicide, including of intimate partner, and other aggravated circumstances (5.‍1) Irrespective of whether a murder is planned and deliberate on the part of any person, murder is first degree murder when the death is caused by that person (a) while engaging in, or after having engaged in, a pattern of coercive or controlling conduct with intent to cause the victim to believe that the victim’s physical or psychological safety is threatened, in the case where the victim is that person’s intimate partner; (b) while exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of the victim with intent to exploit the victim, within the meaning of section 279.‍04; (c) while committing or attempting to commit an offence of a sexual nature or an offence for a sexual purpose; or (d) while motivated by hate based on colour, race, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or mental or physical disability.

https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/45-1/bill/C-16/royal-assent

Future-Stretch-401 · 2026-06-21T04:06:15+00:00

If you look at the three conditions that can lead to an upgrade to a first degree murder charge:

1) Coercive Control - the bill also contains language making this apply to “intimate partners” generally and so applies to both men and women victims.

2) Sexual violence or Exploitation - this is largely redundant since existing law already classified killing of a man or a woman during a sexual assault, kidnapping or hostage-taking as first degree. It’s difficult to imagine some form of exploitation leading to murder that wouldn’t fall under either these conditions or else coercive control.

3) Hate including Misogyny - this is the most confusing part of the bill since it specifically refers to gender identity, and gender expression as well as sex. So it would apply to a trans woman, but not a trans man and not a male transvestite. As a practical matter in the last 40 years of Canadian law gender based hate has only been used successfully as an aggravating charge 5 times.

The law seems likely to be a violation of the Constitution’s equal rights guarantee, in particular for conditions 2 and 3, so I think prosecutors will avoid it for those cases they can already charge as first degree under other law. It would be amusing though if all of the governments posturing about femicide ended as a result of a Supreme Court case involving a trans woman.

blackmamba4554 · 2026-06-22T11:40:32+00:00

"Femicide is just homicide but directed towards victims we care about".

luckycobber · 2026-06-22T19:45:51+00:00

I don’t get why coercive control is on the rise?
Is coercive control even something that happens?
What is even gender based violence?

They use big words to label things that no one can even summarise?

Medical-Reindeer-882 · 2026-06-23T18:55:03+00:00

Femicide is a made up term. If there is femicide there must be a male version too. Women want to be victims everytime and I am tired of it.

Frank_Bianco · 2026-06-22T03:22:10+00:00

Though they use neutral terms such as "intimate partner violence", or "gender-based violence", the changes to law only reflect femicide as a first-degree murder. Masculinicide, (or androcide as a counterpart to femicide) won't be classed as a hate crime, and will carry lighter penalties.

The biggest problem here is that law enforcement and the justice system are directed to treat every homicide where the victim is a woman and the perpetrator is a man as a femicide. You cannot commit a first-degree hate crime in self-defence. This law is purpose built to destroy men.

wildnorthernash · 2026-06-21T04:06:24+00:00

I mean it makes sense since the rates male partners kill their female partners is far higher than the reverse. Females can still get first degree murder charges for killing partners

Title	Canada makes femicide first-degree murder as all three major Criminal Code reforms become law
Author	BEEZY086
Upvotes	222
Comments	42
Date	June 20, 2026 9:24 PM UTC (1 month ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1ub7ybb/canada_makes_femicide_firstdegree_murder_as_all/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/canada-makes-femicide-first-degree-murder-as-all.1583262 https://theredarchive.com/post/1583262

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