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Fearing for their lives NWT women face high rate of violence in the home
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Published Monday, July 15, 2013
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Violence against women is nine times more prevalent in the Northwest Territories than the rest of Canada, according to recent data from Statistics Canada.
Violence against women is nine times more prevalent in the NWT than in the rest of Canada, according to information released recently by Statistics Canada. - NNSL photo illustration |
Almost 4,000 of those women were assaulted by an intimate partner, the report also found.
Alcohol is to blame for many violent incidents in the home, said Const. Greg Tyler, RCMP G Division's family violence co-ordinator.
"I do review a significant number of the family violence files. I see alcohol involvement in a significant number of those," said Tyler.
In another study released last month by Status of Women Canada, half the women in all three territories who had been assaulted had feared for their lives.
"In the territories, fearing for one's life is a reality for female victims of spousal violence, as approximately half of these women believed that their lives were in danger," the report stated.
Lorraine Phaneuf, executive director of the Status of Women Council of the NWT, said with only five shelters for women and children in the territory, women in smaller, remote communities have to travel great distances to access shelter services.
Hay River, Tuktoyaktuk, Inuvik, Yellowknife and Fort Smith are the only communities with shelters.
Phaneuf said some communities don't have their own RCMP officers, which means officers have to travel to the community to respond to calls.
"We do have 11 communities without RCMP. They do have RCMP service, but not in their community, so the RCMP would have to be brought in," she said. "It can delay the process of people getting services for sure."
Tyler said RCMP officers can't be posted in every community, which is an unfortunate reality in the territory.
"If you look at a fly-in community, if there is a case of family violence that was reported to the nearest detachment members, they can't get there as soon as we would like," he said. "Those are the challenges that are out there."
The rate of sexual assault in the NWT is also nine times higher than the provinces.
Tyler has been the RCMP's family violence co-ordinator since April of this year. The co-ordinator position was the result of a recommendation in the territory's latest family violence action plan, which was released in 2009.
The NWT Family Violence Action Plan Phase II (2007-2012) included recommendations for a variety of departments and agencies, including the departments of Justice and Health and Social Services, Education Culture and Employment, the Coalition Against Family Violence and the RCMP.
Tyler said part of his job is training every officer on the force who responds to a domestic assault call how to recognize whether a man is likely to physically attack his wife or girlfriend again.
Known as ODARA, the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment is considered the most up-to-date method available to determine a man's risk of re-assaulting his partner. It is based on relationships between a man and a woman and uses 13 criteria to determine risk, including substance abuse, if threats or confinement were used during the incident, criminal history and if there are children in the relationship.
"G Division has some more specific policy relating to family violence," Tyler said. "Our divisional policy mandates that all of our members are trained to use that risk assessment."
The number of family violence incidents fluctuated in the past five years, Tyler said.
In 2008, officers responded to 487 incidents. In 2009, that number increased to 545 before reaching 605 in 2010.
"It got to be very significant," Tyler said.
Numbers fell to 546 in 2011 and fell further to 408 in 2012.
Tyler said by June of this year, RCMP had responded to 177 incidents.
Tyler said making people aware of the connection between alcohol and violence is key to prevention.
"One of the common denominators for family violence is alcohol," he said. "Educating the public on the effects of alcohol and the effects of alcohol abuse and what it can do not only to the person who is consuming it, but the collateral damage."
Phaneuf said while alcohol can exasperate a situation, it can't
be used as the sole explanation for family violence.
"We never say that alcohol is the cause of family violence," she said. "It could be an exacerbator of violence, but it's definitely not the cause of family violence."
Phaneuf said the need for control is often how violence happens.
"Violence is about control and that is what we always talk about, the control over another person is what causes the violence," she said. "The cause was always there, whatever prompts people to take control over other people."
Phaneuf agreed education plays an important role in preventing violence in the home. The council sponsors an annual Family Violence Awareness Week, providing grants and educational materials to communities throughout the territory.
This year's events begin on Sept. 30 and the theme is It's Everyone's Business, What Will You Do? The theme focuses on the role of
the community in preventing violence.
Phaneuf said the council is also working on a report card that will provide a snapshot on the territory's currently available programs and services.
"It's more like a baseline of information so we can see where we are now," she said.
"In two years' time, we'll do another report card which will be an evaluation of services."
The document is scheduled to be released at the Family Violence Awareness Week launch in Yellowknife planned for this fall.
In the courts
Many domestic violence cases end up in the court system. One of the services currently available is the Domestic Violence Treatment Option court, which provides education and counselling to qualifying individuals, Tyler said.
"If there is a guilty plea, which is taking responsibility for their actions, they can go through an eight-week treatment program that addresses things like anger management, decision-making and substance abuse issues, depending on the offender's particular needs," Tyler said.
Only those who qualify are accepted into the program.
"They go through a screening process to determine whether or not they are a good candidate for the program," he said.
The approach aims to tackle the root causes of an individual's violent behaviour.
Tyler said the program will soon expand to Behchoko and possibly to other communities in the future.
He said he hopes the program and other initiatives will continue to bring down the number of family violence incidents.
"I think there has been some good work to address (family violence) within the territory by the territorial government and other non-government agencies and the RCMP," he said. "From what I can see over the last couple of years here, it seems from a police perspective, we've been responding to fewer complaints over the last couple years."
While the numbers appear to be going down, the NWT stats still show that domestic violence is a huge issue in the North. In the meantime, Tyler said confronting family violence remains a top concern for officers in the territory.
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