-Agencies reported devoting an average of 38 per cent of their time to family violence issues. -Last year 257 women and 364 children were admitted to NWT shelters. -Last year 424 incidents of spousal assault were reported to the RCMP. -In the NWT 147.7 people per 100,000 used shelters in 1998. That's eight times the national average. -Right now, there are five safe shelters and three family violence counselling programs in the NWT. -One shelter reported it had to turn away 33 women and 82 children between April and December, 2001.

That's one key overall observation identified in a report released by the Coalition Against Family Violence titled 'Family Violence in the NWT: A Survey of Costs, Services, Data Collection and Issues for Action.'

Two key concerns identified by the survey respondents involve a lack of inter-agency co-operation, communication and co-ordination in responding to family violence and the lack of treatment and rehabilitation programs for abusive men outside the criminal justice system.

Victims of family violence have more counselling services available to them than the abusers, the report states, but funding for victims services are described by respondents as inadequate.

On the other hand, the front-line workers saw counselling services for abusers as "adequately funded."

The report shows the NWT is in urgent need for more counselling, shelters and safehouses for victims of violence, support services for entire families and services targeted specifically at healing children and youth affected by violence in the home.

Insight Social Research and Support Services was contracted by the coalition to compile research for the report. They consulted 118 individuals from 64 agencies such as shelters, family violence programs, criminal justice services, counselling and support services and other organizations that deal with family violence.

Barbara Saunders, chair of the coalition, said of all the assessments and research reports on family violence in the NWT over the past 10 years, this report is anticipated as the one that stands out above all.

"We hope that this document will be the levelling of all these documents and we will be formulating an action plan that stems from all the work of the past 10 years," she said.

A total of 42 recommendations were developed based on an analysis of all research gathered for the report.

The recommendations deal with general services and approach, shelters and safehomes, family violence and victims programs, criminal justice services, services for children and youth, sexual assault services, income support, housing, addictions and mental health services.

Lyda Fuller of the YWCA said the report will be studied diligently by all staff members and the implications discussed by the shelter's board of directors.

She said after years and years of efforts by women's groups and other agencies, there remains to be plenty of misunderstandings about family violence, the cycle of abuse and how to break away from it.

"People have often accepted that family violence is part of their lives ... and it becomes the norm in a lot of ways.

Women blamed

"Women end up being blamed for not leaving, for not speaking out and are returning to abusive partners," she said.

Because of the secrecy and denial barriers surrounding family violence issues, Fuller said, front-line workers are often blamed for breaking up families. Neither victims nor communities talk openly about family violence and those who do speak out are sometimes punished by communities for doing so.

Because of an absence of long-term planning, adequate funding and community support shelters are not operating as well as they should be.

"Shelters are often fundraising, they can't keep staff, there's no continuity and they don't have money to train staff properly," said Fuller.

Val Liske, director of the Women and Children's Healing and Recovery Program, said it's going to take a community-wide concerted effort to fight back against family violence.

Also director of family violence programming at the YWCA, Liske said over the past few weeks the 12-bed shelter for battered women and children from all over the NWT has been extremely busy. At one point during the summer, occupancy peaked at 90 per cent.

"And we know that there are lots of women out there who don't come to us because they are silenced around speaking out about violence that's going on in their community and their lives," she said.

The YWCA shelter can accommodate women fleeing from violence for six weeks. After they leave the shelter, most women go back to their abusive homes.

"They want the abuse to stop, but that's their home, that's their family, that's their marriage.

"All their supports may be there and they still love the person, but they hate the violence. It's complicated. Many women return and many women remain in those situations because they are afraid, because there isn't the support in place because it's not easy to get out of your community," said Liske.