Domestic violence strategy unfolding
While advocates say that it's impossible to `end' an issue as pervasive as gender-based violence, they agree now is the time for Canada, and Saskatchewan, to work at making an overarching cultural shift.
At the end of January, the federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for the status of women endorsed a declaration to make Canada free of gender-based violence, through the creation of a national action plan. The ministers set a 10-year timeline for the work.
Jess Fisher, gender-based violence education coordinator with Outsaskatoon, said Canada's history is built upon the introduction of gender-based violence — it's ultimately a colonial construct, Fisher said.
“The idea of not accepting gender and sexual diversity was introduced to Turtle Island because of colonization, and that kind of sets a foundation for violence for anybody who doesn't exist within that very limited framework,” Fisher said. “Inequity and gender-based violence isn't just happening at a personal level; it's been built into the systems that we live in, operate within.”
Nationally, the issue disproportionately affects Indigenous women and rural and remote residents. It's additionally challenging in Saskatchewan because of the province's high populations of those demographics, said Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan (PATHS) executive director Jo-anne Dusel.
She hopes the declaration will bring national consistency to how the issue is addressed. She's currently working with Women's Shelters Canada to put together a national framework — work enabled by the declaration.
According to Statistics Canada's annual family violence report, Saskatchewan continues to lead the provinces in rates of police-reported intimate partner violence. Released Tuesday, the report says that in 2019, the province's rate was 724 per 100,000 people. The national rate was 347.
“It's sad, because that is so consistent year over year. We have fallen behind in this province in taking proactive measures, in having public awareness campaigns, in having an actual provincial action plan to address the issue that is monitored and evaluated,” Dusel said.
Clare's Law and the province's interpersonal violence and abuse awareness campaign, released in December, are positive actions, but currently Saskatchewan doesn't show any changes related to them — “we're just so far behind other jurisdictions,” Dusel said.
She sits on the committee that reviews Clare's Law applications, which she noted are consistently coming from people starting to get involved with “serial abusers.”
Aside from ongoing supports and services for victims, interventions for perpetrators are needed in order to stop that pattern from continuing, she said.
The office of Minister for the Status of Women Laura Ross declined an interview. In a prepared statement, the office said creating a national framework means taking a preventative approach, “create(ing) cultural and behavioural change through education around the root causes, risk factors and impacts of violence,” instead of only responding to individual instances.
Aboriginal Friendship Centres of Saskatchewan (AFCS) program manager Alicia Buckley said making the work relevant and applicable to everyone is a matter of taking an intersectional approach, ensuring the voices and experiences of Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ people are respected.
“Without having culturally safe measures or inclusive measures put in place, it's just another act that's being forced upon us,” Buckley said. “We need to have that way of connecting in a culturally relevant space.”
If you or someone you know are experiencing abuse and want help, call 211.