Anti-violence organizations are heartbroken and outraged at the killing of Stephanie Forster: Forster had a protection order and Gianluigi Derossi killed her 

On December 15, BWSS, Surrey Women’s Centre, and Tri-Cities Transition Society held rallies to draw attention to Forster’s murder. One was in front of the Coquitlam RCMP detachment, and the second was at the intersection of 100th Avenue and 152nd Street in Surrey.

At both locations, a banner reading, “She had a protection order; He killed her anyway” was hung.

Click the video to see advocates rally in Coquitlam and Surrey.

Forster had a protection order against Derossi at the time of her death, ordering him not to communicate with Forster, and not to visit her residence, workplace or school as a result. He was charged with breaching his conditions on October 2.

Many survivors of domestic violence have to fight to get a protection order and on top of that also have to fight to have the protection order enforced.

Click to watch the video above of frontline workers sharing their experiences with protection orders.

Derossi has a long history of predatory actions, in some cases where he was charged and convicted and in others where charges weren’t made.

He was a fraudster who established fake relationships to steal thousands of dollars from his targets. He frauded Allison Flannagan for an estimated $200,000.  And despite police recommending charges in her case, Crown declined to approve them.

“Had those charges (in Allison Flannagan’s case) been approved by Crown and gone through, I suspect he would still be in jail today and we could have prevented what happened to Stephanie,” Flannagan said.

“The justice system has let me down. It let the other victim down and it definitely let Stephanie and her family down.”

We’re continuing to unpack all the elements of this case, learning more about what happened to Stephanie Forster, Allison Flanaggan, and others to identify where the criminal system failed.

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