A push by six Cochrane women to bring an emergency shelter to town should garner support from not only the community at large but municipal, provincial and federal policy makers.
Domestic violence is a serious problem in this country that somehow continues to thrive in the shadows despite its pervasiveness.
According to a recent report by Alberta’s chief public officer, “In 2014, 131 Canadians died at the hands of a family member and there were 133,920 reported victims of dating or family violence, with the majority of victims being women. Just under nine million Canadians have reported experiencing abuse before the age of 15 years.”
In this province, over the last 10 years more than 103,343 women and 108,955 children have been turned away from women’s shelters across Alberta, according to a fact sheet from Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (ACWS).
Alberta also has as one of the top three provinces to have the highest rates of intimate partner violence in 2013, according to Statistics. The report stated Alberta had 10,045 women and 2,887 men reporting intimate-partner violence. This province also had 1,970 family violence police reports with children and youth, and over 300 police-reported family violence incidents to senior victims.
Those are striking statistics that are made even more disturbing by the fact “People are reluctant to talk about family violence, meaning it often goes unreported,” according to the public health officer’s report.
The report cites “fear and concerns about safety, stigma, and not being believed. In some cases, people believe it is a personal matter or not important enough,” as reasons the abuse is not reported.
Speaking loudest to the need for a shelter is the fact many remain in abusive situations because they are “dependent on the person who is being abusive or violent.” The ability to escape an abusive situation is vital to breaking the cycle of violence.
While some might not see the need for a shelter in a small community such as Cochrane, that only speaks to the hidden nature of domestic assault and not the actual need.
While a clearer picture is expected after a needs assessment being done by Family and Community Services (FCSS) is complete, there is evidence that domestic violence is a growing concern in Cochrane.
In response, the RCMP hired Const. Kourtney Currie as the detachment’s domestic violence co-ordinator to assist with those types of cases.
A shelter in town will help individuals and families escape violence without also being forced out of their community.
