Several days ago, I wrote an article about a teen girl murdered by her jealous boyfriend after they’d broken up, even after she’d reported him to the police for stalking and abuse. They fined her for wasting their time. He’s charging with murdering her, by cutting her throat. Yesterday, 18yr old Daphné Huard-Boudreault, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, after she called the police, and they told her they couldn’t do anything.
Her 22yr old boyfriend, Anthony Pratte-Lops, is charged with first degree murder, after Daphné was found stabbed in a residence just south of Montreal, with critical injuries, and died while being transported to hospital. He’s already made his first court appearance.
The ex-boyfriend was found at the residence, and taken into custody at the scene.
According to the preliminary reports, Daphne was going to the residence to collect some of her things from an apartment she and her ex had shared when she was attacked. They said she was accompanied by her mother in law, and a police officer at the time of the deadly attack, but it does not specify if the officer was with her, or parked outside.
Daphne had run into Pratte-Lops just hours before her death, while at work at a convenience store. She called the police, fearful of her life, but they didn’t do anything about the complaint.
Daphne’s manager made a statement saying, “The police came to see her, but they said there was nothing that they could do.”
According to the manager, before Daphne left work she asked, “Is he going to have to kill me for police to do something?” It’s a chilling question, given the fact that she was killed by her ex-boyfriend, less than nine hours later.
The ex-boyfriend posted a hate filled rant on his Facebook, accusing her of cheating, distancing herself from him after a two year relationship and wished her a horrible life, saying that he wished all of the “unhappiness in the world” on her. What’s even more disturbing is the amount of people that saw the video he posted, and didn’t call the police to make any attempt to report his hateful, violent, behavior.
Canada is not better for treating victims of abuse, or sexual assault with any more dignity, than the United States. Quebec has had multiple reports of officers sexually abusing women, specifically native women, and nothing ever happens to change it.
Daphne’s current boyfriend made a heart breaking statement at the first court appearance, saying, “I would have liked him to look me in the eyes and have him understand that he didn’t have the right to do that and that he didn’t have the right to take the life of a person who was marvelous with a big heart”.
There needs to be a serious overhaul of the way that the police respond and deal with domestic violence cases. Women are being murdered by their partners at a phenomenal rate, and teen girls reports go unnoticed. There was no need for Daphne to die, and there were many points that other people could have stepped in to avoid the situation.
The estimation is, every six days, a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner
People could have reported the video on Facebook, surely one of the ex’s friends knew that he was not acting in a normal way, and should have alerted police. Why did the police insist there was nothing they could do? Why was the officer unable to stop the attack on Daphne at the scene?
The fact that the police did nothing, even after knowing that she’d left him, is despicable. People, specifically women, are at their most vulnerable after they leave their partner. According to the creator of ‘Private Violence’, “Between 50% and 75% of domestic violence homicides happen at the point of separation or after [the victim] has already left [her abuser].”
We need to do more to raise awareness for domestic violence against women, and stop the murders of women. Police obviously need to be retrained, or properly trained, in how to deal with domestic violence, and stop taking the abusers side, leaving the victims to fend for themselves,and ultimately being murdered.
