Pamela Cross
Pamela Cross is a feminist lawyer. She applies intersectional feminist analyses to her work in the gender-based violence movement focusing on intimate partner violence and Canadian legal systems. She has worked with a wide range of women’s equality organizations across Canada, sits on Ontario’s Domestic Violence Death Review Committee, and is a frequent media commentator on these issues. In 2024, Cross was awarded a Doctor of Laws Honoris Causa by the Law Society of Ontario. Her book, And Sometimes They Kill You, was shortlisted for the Donner Prize the same year. She lives in Kingston, Ontario with her partner.
Writers & Books
Award History
2025 - Finalist
Balsillie Prize for Public Policy
forAnd Sometimes They Kill You: Confronting the Epidemic of Intimate Partner Violence
Jury Citation
“And Sometimes They Kill You is a devastating, powerful, and comprehensive analysis of the epidemic of intimate partner violence in Canada: why it continues to happen and the ongoing gaps in legislation and policing that facilitate such tragic outcomes for women and children. Pamela Cross has spent a lifetime addressing one of the most critical issues in Canada — the plight of those being abused and murdered by their intimate partners — and has written a profound, heartbreaking but undeniably essential book. And Sometimes They Kill You is more than an analysis of the problem, it is a thorough and detailed investigation into how and why such violence remains far too prevalent, how to fix it, and what must urgently change. That it is not an easy read makes Cross’ book all the more necessary and timely.”—2025 Balsillie Prize jury (Samantha Nutt, Taki Sarantakis, and Scott Young)Works Recognized by WT