The YWCA Peterborough Haliburton and Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre conservatively estimate that more than 2,500 women in Haliburton County have, or are now, experiencing intimate partner violence.
In making a presentation to County council Dec. 11, YWCA executive director Kim Dolan said, “we know that 30 per cent of women over the age of 15 experience gender-based violence. It happens to our girls, our friends, our mothers, our aunts, and we have worked with many women who are 70 and older.”
Dolan, Nycole Duncan of the women’s centre and manager of HERS in Minden, and Brittany MacMillan, executive director of the assault centre spoke to councillors.
Following an inquest into the deaths of three women in Renfrew, the delegation was seeking a County declaration of intimate partner violence as an epidemic. They also wanted recommendations from the inquest to be referred to the Community Safety and Well-Being department.
On Sept. 22, 2015, three Renfrew women were murdered by a man with whom each had a past relationship. The tragic event highlighted critical failures in the systems meant to protect victims of intimate partner violence. The findings were released June 28, 2022. In total, 86 recommendations for change were made, speaking to oversight and accountability, system approaches, collaboration and communication, funding, education and training, measures addressing perpetrators, intervention and safety.
Another report, The Mass Casualty Commission, was completed in March 2023, providing 130 recommendations. It declared the epidemic, calling for a public health approach, and mobilizing a societywide response. Other recent reports include the national action plan to end gender-based violence and the national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
The three delegates said femicide numbers are trending up.
Dolan added the rural nature of Haliburton County makes it a dangerous place for some women.
“Rural realities are significant barriers for women with, and without, children. There’s physical and social isolation; there are transportation challenges; there are issues related to income and a living wage,” Dolan said.
She added, “they may not have good, reliable internet; they may not be able to afford it. And we’ve heard stories from women for years that when their abusive husband or boyfriend leaves for work during the day, the phones go with them.
“We’ve got the issues of economy and ecology and for many people a connection to the land; and that comes with access to, and familiarity with, guns.”
Worse in rural areas
The three added there are a lot of reasons that women in rural and remote communities are at an increased risk of violence, including traditional beliefs about gender roles, the permanence of marriage, “til death do us part,” shame, blame for themself or from themself or others, and secrecy.
OPP reports indicate that in rural areas violence is 75 per cent higher than for women in urban areas.
The delegation said they were compelled to take action as during a 104-week period, 124 women in Ontario lost their lives. Coun. Walt McKechnie commented, “there’s a lot of cases where this goes on for a long time, and the neighbours know about it, the family knows about it, and the police probably even know about it, but everybody’s really involved when finally, somebody gets killed.” He agreed that society must get involved and the police and courts crack down on offenders.
Referencing the May Isles’ inquest in Collingwood, in which a man killed his former wife and then took his own life, the delegates said, “one of the recommendations that came forward from that inquest was a call for a robust, coordinated community response to violence, because we all have a piece in this.”
Coun. Jennifer Dailloux said, “I’m very much in support of Haliburton County signing this and sending it on to the appropriate authorities. I am troubled, as we all are, by the statistics and the growth in femicides that you’ve shared with us today.
“I’m not at all hopeful for 2025 and the reason for that is how vulnerable we are economically and socially in our County these days and across Ontario, with the cost of housing, the cost of living, the challenges in finding sustainable work. All of these things I believe, contribute to the frustration people experience that are often taken out in the household.”
The County made the declaration.
