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IQALUIT - Family abuse legislation introduced last year is proving to be an effective tool to address situations of abuse in families and communities, say workers within the Department of Justice.

The Family Abuse Intervention Act, which came into effect March 1, 2008, gives community members the ability to respond to family violence or threats of family abuse immediately, applying for civil orders as opposed going through the court system to seek protection for victims.

"We've come a long way (with the act)," said Nicole Sikma, a justice of the peace hired specifically to deal with the act's implementation. "This act is great. It's really much needed and it's appropriate for Nunavut."

Under the new legislation, Sikma receives applications for four types of orders available to those either experiencing or in danger of family abuse, or those applying on their behalf.

According to Sikma, 65 files had been opened in the 10 months up until the end of January 2009, the lion's share being applications for emergency protection orders. An additional 20 or more orders have been issued since this time, she estimated. Sikma also estimated about half of the emergency protection orders have resulted in the respondents being removed from their homes.

The problem of family violence in Nunavut is an obvious one, mostly resulting from addictions to drugs and alcohol, said Rebekah Williams, assistant deputy minister for the Department of Justice.

"We don't have to look too far away to know how the family violence is a big, big problem," she said. "Close to 90 per cent, if not more than 90 per cent are family violence issues (with) people that are going through the court system ... and 99.9 per cent of those are resulting from drinking and drugs. Inuit don't know what to do with drugs and alcohol because we didn't make them. We didn't know how to deal with it."

A network of justices of the peace from communities across the territory has been designated to be on call after hours and on weekends to ensure someone is available to process applications 24 hours a day.

Community justice outreach workers have also been hired to provide support and resources to applicants at the local level.

"As far as implementation, we have staffed all communities except for about maybe three (with) community justice outreach workers who would be working on the act and other functions of community justice programs and projects," said Williams.

Before enforcement began on the act, front-line workers such as RCMP officers, justices of the peace and social workers were also trained on the legislation, she added. In addition, more intensive community training was carried out in each community across Nunavut.

"This is a new act. Everybody's learning together," said Williams. "We're not in full capacity of being able to do everything yet because it's only been a year. When we were orienting communities, we were hiring new people at this time. So I can say some of them are beginning to understand, but we have lots more to go yet."

While the new act is similar to legislation in other parts of the country, there are aspects unique to Nunavut, such as the Community Intervention Order, which offers traditional Inuit counselling to individuals involved in abusive situations.

"That order is to have families seek counselling or counselling be provided for a duration and then report back," said Sikma. "It's slowly being recognized and being sought, but the majority of our orders or applications have been emergency protection orders."