Domestic violence strategy should include more prevention programs: experts

Any Ontario strategy to extremity intimate partner violence must see much programs for men astatine consequence of becoming perpetrators, an area successful which nan state is presently sorely lacking, experts told a committee Wednesday.

There is simply a “smattering” of services available, said Katreena Scott, world head of nan Centre for Research and Education connected Violence Against Women and Children astatine Western University, but it is excessively fewer and acold between.

“The reality successful Ontario is that we live, correct now, successful a strategy wherever if location is personification who is engaging successful — aliases is astatine consequence for — hurtful, abusive aliases coercive behaviour, it’s very, very difficult to find and get help,” Scott told a legislative committee studying friendly partner violence.

“Really, what has to hap is they request to hold until they’re progressive successful nan criminal justness system.”

The Progressive Conservative authorities said this outpouring that it would support an NDP measure to state friendly partner unit an epidemic, but then-government location leader Paul Calandra besides tasked nan justness committee pinch a broader study of nan issue. Those hearings began Wednesday.

The move came astir a twelvemonth aft nan state rejected calls from an inquest into nan deaths of 3 women astatine nan hands of their erstwhile partner to make nan declaration, saying it couldn’t explanation friendly partner unit an pandemic because it was not an infectious aliases communicable disease.

The assemblage astatine a coroner’s inquest into nan 2015 deaths of Nathalie Warmerdam, Carol Culleton and Anastasia Kuzyk successful Renfrew County made 86 recommendations aimed astatine preventing akin tragedies. One of those recommendations was to found a 24-hour hotline for men who request support to forestall them from engaging successful specified violence.

Experts astatine nan legislative committee Wednesday held up an Alberta programme arsenic a bully illustration of support for prevention, which offers men counselling, a 24-hour telephone support line, online resources and toolkits.

Trending Now

Lana Wells, an subordinate professor astatine nan University of Calgary and a home unit researcher, said men are predominantly nan perpetrators of friendly partner unit and a provincial strategy to extremity it must see supports for them.

“When men and boys tin emotionally self-regulate, embody gender-equitable norms and behaviours, person nan skills to disrupt sexism, unit wrong themselves and their peers, clasp non-violence, person nan skills to heal, repair and negociate conflict, beryllium accountable, and actively animate their peers, colleagues and children to do nan same, past we tin extremity unit earlier it starts,” she told nan committee.

“So what tin Ontario do to beforehand this area? I deliberation really focusing connected removing nan load from victims and victimology and commencement to attraction our attraction connected nan group and systems that are causing harm.”

Better information is besides needed that tin speak to prevention, Wells said, arsenic astir of nan investigation successful this area has focused connected victims. There needs to beryllium much accusation connected immoderate patterns that precede home unit and what factors tin lead group to go perpetrators successful bid to disrupt those trajectories, she said.