Report urges better workplace protection from domestic violence
Alberta’s human services minister says the government has accepted and will implement recommendations by the family violence death review committee that would require workplaces to better protect employees from domestic violence.
Irfan Sabir also agreed Monday that employers, employees, security guards and the general public need more training and educational materials to know how best to respond to family violence when it enters the workplace, as it did in the case of a woman who was murdered by her spouse in 2011.
Prior to her murder, the woman never pressed charges against her spouse and didn’t ask for a restraining order. Police encouraged her to limit contact, but couldn’t act further, since her spouse didn’t assault her in public.
But when the family violence review committee reviewed the homicide as part of its mandate, it discovered that while the man’s workplace offered him counselling — which he turned down — the woman’s employer and co- workers did little, even though they knew she was being repeatedly threatened by her spouse over the phone and during workplace visits. Security guards on- site were also aware of the threats, but didn’t intervene.
“On the victim’s side, the employer did very little to protect the employee at the workplace site and knew about the violence and knew about the potential threat and did nothing about it,” said Allen Benson, chairman of the death review committee.
As such, the committee said the government should amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act to include family violence as a workplace hazard.
“It would mandate an employer to protect their employees in the workplace,” Benson said.
The committee also said the government and post- secondary institutions should develop training so security guards know better how to investigate and report family violence. Domestic violence brochures should be distributed to the public at key points including medical offices, family court dispute programs, provincial registries where people go for birth certificates or drivers licences, and agencies that serve immigrant communities.
Benson would not release details of the homicide victim to protect her family, who remain in Edmonton, but he said she was in Canada for about four years and was influenced by an immigrant culture that kept her family silent.
“We need to raise awareness among family, friends and in the community how to respond, where to turn to … so that we can improve the situation and prevent the same from happening,” Sabir said.
That’s key, since more than 75 per cent of victims disclose their abuse to friends, families, neighbours, co- workers or spiritual leaders, compared to the 15 per cent who turn to the police for help, said Lana Wells, a family violence expert at the University of Calgary’s school of social work.
In Edmonton in 2014, police dealt with 7,849 reports of family violence, or more than 21 each day, said acting chief Tony Harder.
Though a victim’s circle of family, friends and co- workers often know about the violence, 77 per cent of those confidants don’t know what to do next or where to turn for support, a 2012 Alberta study concluded.
“Citizens must be provided with knowledge, confidence and information to recognize and name coercive control and act on it,” Wells said.
“Looking around Alberta and other jurisdictions around Canada, we see very few policies and resources aimed in this area.”
The employer did very little to protect the employee ... and knew about the violence and knew about the potential threat...