Crimes against gays more 'frenzied' and violent
Criminologist Doug Janoff, pictured, says violence against gays and lesbians in Canada is more "frenzied" and intense than that perpetrated against other victims of violent crime. "The violence is real, it is intense and it really needs to be taken seriously," Janoff says. In his new book, "Pink Blood: Homophobic Violence in Canada," the Ottawa-based author, who has a master's degree in criminology from B.C.'s Simon Fraser University, says, "We need to start asking very hard questions . . . demanding that these laws that are supposedly in place to protect us are actually going to be utilized." The book opens with a list of more than 100 gay or lesbian individuals who have died violently in the past decade.
"They have a really hard time sitting there and reading about the bodies being burnt beyond recognition, or the body being kicked to the point where the victim was no longer recognizable, or the body being mutilated and thrown into a garbage dump," he says. "I need to present that evidence so people can take it seriously." Perhaps the most horrific death was what Janoff calls the "frenzied killing" of David Curnick of Vancouver. The 54-year-old teacher was found dead in his apartment in 1994 after being stabbed 146 times with his own kitchen knife.
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