Women’s shelter group creates inventory of best practices
Online database of practical information aimed at combating domestic violence
PAIGE PARSONS
An online database sharing Alberta success stories and best practices for combating domestic violence was launched Friday as city homicide detectives continue investigating two recent deaths of women allegedly killed by men whom they had had a relationship.
“We’ve had two domestics in the last two weeks in Edmonton. That means things are not working,” said Carolyn Goard, director of programs and services with the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters, speaking at a launch event at RCMP K-Division headquarters on Friday.
“We have to get to the place, hopefully in our lifetimes, where we’ve got it right and domestic violence is not a problem anymore.”
The idea for the project was born as a response to a series of domestic homicides in Alberta in 2014 and 2015, including Edmonton’s worst ever mass shooting in December 2014 when 53-year-old Phu Lam shot and killed eight people — most of whom were his family members — and then himself.
The information on the new website, Inventory of Promising Practices, was compiled with the input of 298 service providers and 75 survivors of domestic abuse. Goard said a lesson that emerged during the project’s creation was that collaboration between different agencies is key, as is ensuring that the voices of women who experience violence are at the centre of their work.
The project was completed with funding from both the federal and provincial governments.
Speaking at the event Friday, Alberta Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said the website will provide everyone in the province who is working to keep people safe with practical tools.
“It takes each and every one of us across this province to be willing to talk about this issue, to bring it out of the darkness, and to allow it to be addressed,” Ganley said.
RCMP assistant commissioner John Ferguson echoed the call for collaboration as a best practice for preventing family violence.
“No single agency can solve this on their own,” he said.
RECENT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES
On Monday, police responded to a Strathearn residence where they found Bigue Ndao dead in an apartment suite. The 33-yearold’s estranged husband Ahamdo Mbaye, 41, has been charged with second-degree murder and possession of a weapon dangerous to the public in connection to the death.
On April 23, 25-year-old Brittany Vande Lagemaat died of injuries in hospital after police responded to a complaint about the use of weapon at a home near 78 Street and 143 Avenue.
Kenneth Richards, 35, was arrested several days later and charged with a string of offences including second-degree murder, housebreaking with intent and weapons offences. Richards has the name “Brittany” tattooed on his left forearm, police said in an earlier news release.