Source: Little Black Book Online
By: Eva Kazakou
January 7th, 2026
Coming from Greece, I’ve spent the past few years watching stories of gender-based violence appear far too often in everyday life. News stories, social media posts, and conversations with friends and family frequently revolve around yet another woman harmed or killed by a current/ former partner or even a family member. Over time, these incidents created a constant feeling of fear and frustration, a reminder of how unsafe many women still are.
When I moved to Canada, my loved ones would call or message me with similar news, sharing how disappointed, angry, and exhausted they felt about the situation in Greece.They would always add, “At least you’re in Canada… and you better stay there!”. In their minds, Canada represented progress: strong institutions, equal rights, a society where women are protected and supported. And to be honest, I believed it too. Canada is known for its kindness and fairness, and in my mind, that meant protection from the dangers women face elsewhere.
But the truth is that there is no country where women are immune to gender-based violence.
In Canada, too many women and girls are killed for no other reason than their gender; a crime known as femicide. The use of this term has become part of public discussion here, as it is in Greece and many other countries. It refers to gender-motivated killings, often linked to control, jealousy, or punishment within intimate relationships. Femicide highlights the gendered nature of this violence and the unequal power structures behind it.
Despite international calls for recognition, Canada does not yet include femicide in its Criminal Code. Without naming the problem, it becomes harder to measure, harder to understand, and ultimately harder to prevent.
That is why the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability (CFOJA) has launched a powerful new podcast: Too True Crime. There are 580 episodes, one for every woman who lost her life to femicide across Canada since 2020.
These episodes are not meant to entertain, like typical true crime podcasts that often sensationalize a few high-profile cases. Too True Crime is dedicated to telling each woman’s story, highlighting the frequency of femicide across Canada. Every episode is a tribute to a woman whose life was unfairly taken.
When we only talk in numbers, it’s easy to forget that each statistic represents a full human life. And in fact, 580 is likely not the full reality. Hundreds more exist, but various factors limit public access to complete details. Some perpetrators are never identified, other cases remain unsolved. Only cases that could be confirmed as femicide under global definitions are included in these 580 episodes.
The episodes include several cases of Indigenous women and girls, each voiced by an Indigenous narrator. The remaining episodes are recorded by women who actively work to prevent femicide and gender-based violence in their communities. Many of these narrators are personally connected to the issue, as survivors themselves, as advocates, or as family members or loved ones of women who were killed.
Through this project, CFOJA is calling on the Government of Canada to officially recognize femicide and take steps toward including it in the Criminal Code. This change wouldn’t just add a word to the law, it would help experts gather better data, improve responses to warning signs, and strengthen prevention efforts. Recognizing the gendered motive behind a killing is essential to understanding how to stop it.
CFOJA encourages Canadians to take two important first steps:
These actions may seem small, but awareness has power. Femicide is preventable. Prevention starts with naming the problem, recognizing its victims, and demanding more and better from the systems meant to protect us. By listening, remembering, and taking action, we move closer to a future where no family has to grieve a mother, daughter, sister, or friend taken by gender-based violence.
About the author
I am Evangelia (Eva) Kazakou, a third-year Ph.D. student in Political Science and Global Development Studies at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Canada. I completed my B.A. in International, European, and Area Studies and my M.A. in Gender, Society, and Politics at Panteion University in Athens. I’ve worked as a research assistant on the SSHRC project “Gendering Violence and Precarity in Forced Migration: Asylum-Seeking Women in the Eastern Mediterranean,” and I have been involved with Amnesty International Greece and The Greek League for Women’s Rights to address women’s rights issues in Greece.
My PhD work examines the challenges, decisions, and experiences of frontline workers implementing border management policies, while also highlighting how gender and violence impact the lives of people on the move.