While I support the County of Haliburton joining other municipalities in declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic in Ontario – proclamations such as these are somewhat toothless tigers.
As detailed in a story in today’s Highlander, the YWCA Peterborough Haliburton and Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre made a presentation at the last County council meeting of 2024.
And despite coronial inquests and reports, the situation does not seem to be improving. In fact, it is getting worse.
The reality that a coronial inquest into the killing of three women in Renfrew was not wrapped up until June 28, 2022 – when the crime occurred on Sept. 22, 2017 – tells a story in itself. How broken must a system be when it takes five years to rule on such a killing?
Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Nathalie Warmerdam were murdered by a man with whom each had a past relationship. None of them knew about his history of violence against women. It highlighted the critical failures in the systems meant to protect victims of intimate partner violence.
That inquest resulted in 86 recommendations speaking to oversight and accountability, system approaches, collaboration and communication, funding, education and training, measures addressing perpetrators of intimate partner violence, intervention and safety. One of the 86 was to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic.
Another commission, the Mass Casualty Commission of March 2023, recommended a public health approach to preventing mass casualty incidents and mobilizing a society-wide response. The National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, November, 2022, spoke to things such as more funding for supports, prevention, and a responsive justice system.
The Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses is one of the few that does an annual femicide report. They review media reports, so femicides that have not made the news are not included.
They found 62 in 2023-24, the same as the previous year – decidedly trending up since 2015-16, when there were 35.
Why is this happening?
For one thing, living in rural areas such as Haliburton County make it a dangerous place for some women. There is physical and social isolation, transportation challenges, and some struggling to make a living wage. They may not be able to afford, or get, good, reliable internet. The abuser takes the phone when he goes to work. We are also hunters, which means men have access to, and are familiar with, guns.
OPP reports indicate that in rural areas, violence against women is 75 per cent higher than for women in urban areas.
We suspect the post-pandemic economic challenges are also leading to violence in the home.
Coun. Walt McKechnie quite rightly commented that sometimes abuse goes on for a long time; neighbours, family members, even the police may know about it. However, he said it is not until someone is killed that people really take notice. The OPP and courts regrettably also let us down.
He’s right. As a community, we have to take a zero-tolerance approach to intimate partner violence. That means if we hear or see something, we must speak up. Perhaps not in front of the actual perpetrator, making it worse for the victim. However, we can reach out to authorities. And they must step up and take action. Ending an intimate partner violence epidemic is up to all of us
