The establishment of the CFOJA responds to a call from the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences[1] on November 25, 2015, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. On that date, the Special Rapporteur called on all countries to establish a femicide observatory or ‘watch’ to document gender-related killings of women which would collect, analyze and review data on femicides with the aim of prevention.

Established by the Centre for the Study of Social and Legal Responses to Violence (CSSLRV) at the University of Guelph in 2017, its work is being led by an interdisciplinary, multi-sectoral panel of experts from across the country. Building on femicide research, social action and networks that have developed during the past several decades, CSSLRV Director Myrna Dawson, a Canada Research Chair in Public Policy in Criminal Justice, spearheaded the development of the CFOJA and its expert panel with two objectives in mind: (1) to address the need for a single location for information about justice and accountability for femicide victims in Canada; and (2) to facilitate innovative and sustainable research agendas on femicide justice and accountability.

Current activities of the CFOJA are supported by funding from the CSSLRV, University of Guelph, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Canada Research Chair Program.