Tracy Duncan's slaying is Ottawa's fourth femicide this year
Police have identified four Ottawa deaths as 'femicides' this year, exceeding the total of three femicides reported in all of 2024.
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The Ottawa Police Service became the first Canadian police force to use 'femicide' in its public statements in 2022, even before adopting a formal definition.
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A femicide is generally defined as 'the killing of women and girls because of their gender,' often driven by gender roles, discrimination towards women and girls or unequal power relations between women and men.
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The four Ottawa deaths declared femicides so far this year:
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• Tracy Duncan ,54, was found dead at her residence on Carousel Crescent in Gloucester at about 11:30 a.m. on Monday. Stephen Doane, 57, was arrested by police and was charged with second-degree murder.
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• Renée Descary, 51, was stabbed to death on Heney Street in Lowertown on April 1. Oliver Denai, 24, was charged with second-degree murder.
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• Brenda Rus, 60, was found dead in a residence on Brentbrook Crescent in Barrhaven on April 6. Robert Rus, 61, was charged with first-degree murder.
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• Rachelle Desrochers, 54, was reported missing in April and had last been seen March 14 at a McDonald/s restaurant on Elgin Street. Investigators said they had reason to believe she was killed and her body was in a local landfill, where search efforts were ongoing. Joshua Blair, 25, was charged with second-degree murder and indignity to a body on May 26.
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A Christmas 2024 slaying was also later determined to be a femicide. Jolene Arreak died in a home on Spadina Avenue on Hintonburg on Dec. 25. Manasi Foo, 35 was charged with second-degree murder and the attempted murder of a surviving victim, who was treated in hospital and released.
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According to preliminary Ottawa figures for last year, released in January, 6,636 intimate partner violence (IPV) incidents were reported in 2024, resulting in 3,355 charges laid, an increase from the the previous year.
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