Everyone has a role to play, this National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

Wheeliker added, “While we have made progress over the decades, patriarchy and misogyny are still a concern – a significant concern – and violence against women is still at extremely high rates right across Canada.”

According to a report from Statistics Canada published in 2023, research found that in 2021, Alberta had the third-highest rate of gender-based homicide against women and girls among the provinces at 0.68 per 100,000. Saskatchewan had the highest provincial rate at 1.03 and Manitoba was second at 0.72.

Generally speaking, at a national level, rates of gender-based homicides have been decreasing since 2001, but saw a 14 per cent increase between 2020-2021, reaching the highest rate recorded since 2017.

Looking at the bigger picture, Danica Hoffart, executive director of CAWES, explained that IPV can represent steps along a path toward gender-based homicide in some cases.

“As women’s shelters, we are trying to intervene so the women that are living that reality of intimate partner violence don’t end up as homicide victims,” she said.

According to data from the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters, from 2020-2021, 58 per cent of the 1,155 women who completed a Danger Assessment were at a severe or high risk of being killed. From 2022-2023, that rose to *71 per cent of respondents staying in emergency shelters and *75 per cent of respondents staying in secondary shelters.

*Note: The ACWS has updated the way it processes Danger Assessment tool data. Breaking the numbers down into emergency shelter versus secondary shelter respondents is a new feature, and they are represented holistically in the 2020-2021 data.

“These are not small problems,” said Hoffart. “This is life threatening risk, and the work that shelters are doing that could have dire consequences if they weren’t there, it’s vital for these women.”

Hoffart shared some signs of domestic violence to keep an eye out for, including for women who aren’t sure if they are in an abusive relationship.

“Sometimes women aren’t even aware of the level of risk that they’re in,” she explained. “They might have been in this relationship long enough that they’ve lost some perspective on how dangerous their situation is.”

Signs women can look out for in their partners:

Giving insults or humiliating you
Making derogatory comments in public
Acting jealous
Isolating you from family, friends, or other support circles
Exerting financial control, such as depleting financial resources or barring access to them
Creating other kinds of dependency or control
Hitting or throwing things, outbursts of rage
Cruel treatment or threatening of pets

For those on the outside but concerned about someone in a relationship, keep an eye out for changes in behaviour such as not socializing with friends as much, not connecting with co-workers, or generally not engaging in the same way as they used to. Unexplained bruises may also indicate physical abuse.

If someone you know discloses their abuse to you, the first thing to do is believe them, Hoffart urged. Beyond that, do what you can to help connect them with services that will help them out of the situation, and help them create a safety plan for when they are ready to leave.

If you believe someone you may know might be experiencing abuse, extend the hand first and ask them, “Are you safe at home?” Hoffart said this may illicit an immediate response or open the lines of communication for when they are ready to come to terms with or disclose their situation.

Wheeliker noted that significant steps to end domestic violence can be taken in the home as well.

“When parents actually demonstrate mutual respect [and] non-violence in their relationships, their kids see that and they learn that and that becomes generational,” he said. “There still exists lots of relationships that are high conflict, lots of relationships where there’s different forms of abuse.”

“What that does is it really, through social learning, children pick up those destructive and violent beliefs, and if it’s men perpetrating some form of abuse on the woman in the household, then kids grow up with attitudes that, again, perpetuate the violence against women.”

Additionally, the ACWS program Leading Change has a vein designed specifically for men and boys of all ages to address their role in the issue and be a part of the solution, rather than the problem.

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Everyone has a role to play, this National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

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