Fear-mongering in the wake of Vancouver’s latest murder

Last Friday's death of Wendy Ladner-Beaudry has gripped media attention and the city of Vancouver alike. It was a killing that appears to be totally random and completely senseless. Reports indicate that Ladner-Beaudry went out for a run in Pacific Spirit Park, and a few hours later, her body was found beside one of the many trails that wind through the park. I thought what Michel Beaudry said about his wife yesterday was really beautiful. Reported the Globe and Mail:

“She died doing what she loved most,” said Mr. Beaudry, a well-known outdoors writer and mountain adventurer. “We would ask anyone who has any knowledge of suspicious behaviour in the area to notify the police and help us take back this park for the safe enjoyment of everyone, especially the women who value it so much.”

But I get really irritated when these attacks are followed by the usual police warnings about women's safety (don't go into the park by yourself, don't go out at night on your own, yadda, yadda). It completely misplaces the emphasis on individual women, rather than on actually targeting perpetrators and a culture that is unsafe for women. I'm also wondering why, when apparently there is little evidence regarding who committed the murder, the finger-pointing has begun with the city's homeless. Obviously the investigation should cover all possible bases, but that kind of reporting just adds to erroneous beliefs about poor and indigent people, and it fans the flames of fear-mongering that conventional media seems to relish.

Tagged as: crime, women