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Safe havens in Cambridge Bay Jeanne Gagnon Northern News Services Published Monday, September 26, 2011
Similar to the Block Parent program, a home with a purple ribbon sign displayed in a window means it's an RCMP-screened house where someone escaping violence can go to call police or the shelter's 24/7 emergency line to get help. It's not somewhere to stay for any length of time, but rather an immediate refuge for people to get help. As of Friday there were five homes with ribbons in their windows, and Marie Ingram, the wellness centre community director, said the aim of the program is for 30 to 50 homes to sign on. Ingram describes the homes with ribbons as "somewhere safe to be for a short period of time and access to a phone to call for some immediate help," she said. "The shelter is not always that close. It takes time to call someone. Sometimes you don't have that time. Sometimes you need just to leave." The purple ribbon home was an idea proposed for Cambridge Bay's family violence prevention program, whose main focus is to break the cycle of violence. The purple ribbon is the international symbol of domestic violence awareness. "The RCMP in Cambridge Bay is very supportive of any initiative that gives victims of crime immediate shelter and protection," RCMP Cst. Dmitri Malakhov, stated by e-mail. About 100 people attended the launch earlier this month of the purple ribbon campaign, a community-wide, volunteer-based violence prevention program. Ingram said Cambridge Bay residents have been very receptive to the campaign. "I was very pleased. It was very well received," she said. The family violence prevention program is operated by the wellness centre but funded by the territorial government.
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