Decade of abuse: report details domestic violence in Sask.

Over the past nine years, nearly 50 people have been killed by their partners in Saskatchewan, according to new numbers from the Ministry of Justice.

The province’s interim report on domestic violence death shows 48 of 331 murders between 2005 and 2014 were domestic related, as well as nine domestic violence-related suicides.

The domestic violence review panel is currently conducting an in-depth review of six cases of domestic homicide.

“This report, combined with the work being done by the domestic violence review panel, will provide important information for determining the province’s response to domestic violence,” Justice Minister Gordon Wyant said in a news release Thursday.  

From 2004 to 2014, there were 967 intimate partner homicides reported across the country, with women murdered at a rate four times greater than men.

Female victims made up 83 per cent of domestic homicides, as well as 75 per cent of attempted murder cases.

Saskatchewan’s report showed the majority of victims were women, with the majority of perpetrators being men.

The province said one-third of the victims were under the age of 21, and nearly two-thirds of the victims were attacked in their own home. More than half of domestic homicide victims were Indigenous.

Breaking it down further, out of the 48 domestic-related homicides, 19 victims were women – including one victim under the age of 20 – and 14 were men.

More victims were killed by a current spouse or dating partner than a former spouse or dating partner.

The domestic violence review panel will release its final report in the fall.