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Algoma Family Services Declares Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) an Epidemic Algoma Region

The Algoma Family Services (AFS) Board has taken a bold step in addressing the urgent issue of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV).

In a unanimous decision during their board meeting on February 28th, 2024, the AFS Board passed a resolution officially declaring IPV as an epidemic. This resolution adds the AFS voice to the growing chorus of advocates calling for immediate action.

On June 28th, 2022, the Renfrew County Inquest issued 86 recommendations following the tragic deaths of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk, and Nathalie Warmerdam. These three women lost their lives on the same day in 2015 at the hands of the same intimate partner. While the province of Ontario has made progress by implementing more than half of the recommendations, the critical step of declaring IPV as an epidemic remains pending.

Both the Premier of Ontario and the Prime Minister of Canada have acknowledged that this matter is currently under review. However, time is of the essence. Women and children continue to suffer, and lives are at stake. Recent incidents, including the deaths of three children and one mother in our community last October, and most recently this month of four children and one mother in Southern Manitoba, serve as a stark reminder of the urgency in addressing IPV comprehensively.

AFS CEO Ali Juma emphasizes that while the government reviews declaring IPV as an epidemic, lives continue to be lost and children continue to be harmed. Currently, 48 women are on a waiting list for AFS services, with over half of them waiting for counseling for more than six months.

In response, AFS requested additional funding to hire two additional counselors. Although the Government provided $24,000 through a Gender-Based Violence funding announcement, this falls significantly short of the $164,000 needed to fully support the additional staff. AFS remains committed to providing essential services but faces resource constraints.

As a society, we cannot become numb to the alarming frequency of violence against women and children. The AFS Board’s resolution is a courageous step, and we urge the Ontario Premier and the Prime Minister of Canada to follow suit. It is time to recognize IPV as the epidemic it truly is and allocate the necessary resources to protect vulnerable individuals, says William Johnson, Board President.

We congratulate the AFS Board for their courage and resolve in passing this resolution, and encourage our community partner boards to follow suit. With enough voices, maybe just maybe, we can give IPV the attention and resources needed to ensure women and children, in particular indigenous, do not have to be harmed or worse be killed waiting for service, says Ali Juma, AFS CEO.

AFS Board Resolution to Declare IPV as an Epidemic

WHEREAS the jury that heard the Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk, and Nathalie Warmerdam
Inquest (The Renfrew County Inquest) issued 86 recommendations to prevent future deaths
and delivered those recommendations to the Province of Ontario on Intimate Partner Violence;
and

WHEREAS recommendation #1 of the Inquest is for the Province of Ontario to formally declare
Intimate Partner Violence an epidemic; and

WHEREAS every six days in Canada a woman is killed by her intimate partner; and

WHEREAS this past year in Ontario, 52 women or one every week, were victims of femicide; and

WHEREAS Indigenous women are twice as likely to experience violence from their current or former partner, a proportion twice as high as non-Indigenous people; and

WHEREAS Indigenous women make up 16% of all female homicide victims, and 11% of missing women, yet Indigenous people make up only 4.3% of the population of Canada; and

WHEREAS gender- and sexually diverse Indigenous individuals are particularly at risk, being five times more likely than non-Indigenous gender- and sexually-diverse individuals to experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime; and

WHEREAS three in five transgender women experienced Intimate Partner Violence since the age of 16; and

WHEREAS male victims of intimate partner violence increased by 10.37% in 2019; and

WHEREAS immigrant women are more vulnerable to domestic violence due to economic dependence, language barriers, and a lack of knowledge about community resources. Newcomers traumatized by war or oppressive governments are much less likely to report physical or sexual violence to authorities, for fear of further victimization and deportation; and

WHEREAS in The City of Sault Ste Marie in 2022, there were 1351 Intimate Partner Violence
calls for service made to Sault Ste Marie Police Service; and

WHEREAS according to Statistics Canada, 80% of intimate partner violence goes unreported; and

WHEREAS violence against women costs the national justice system, health care systems,
social service agencies, and municipalities nearly $10 billion dollars per year; and
municipalities are on the front lines in addressing gender-based violence; and

WHEREAS on October 30th, the City Council of Sault Ste. Marie has joined 94 municipalities and regions across Ontario in declaring gender-based violence and/or intimate partner violence an epidemic; and

WHEREAS Algoma Family Services, a provider of counselling services to women and children that have and are experiencing domestic violence, and also as a provider of programs to help those that perpetrate
that violence, AFS recognizes that issues of gender-based violence and intimate partner violence are matters of local importance, including public health, community services, and community safety.

Now Therefore Be It Resolved:

  1. That Algoma Family Services declare an epidemic in intimate partner violence and gender-based violence in accordance with recommendation #1 of the Renfrew County Inquest;
  2. That Algoma Family Services supports the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service Board resolution to integrate intimate partner violence into the Police Service’s Community Safety and Well-Being Plan in accordance with recommendation #10 of the Renfrew County Inquest.
  3. That the Algoma Family Services Board President and the CEO write a letter to The Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario requesting that the Province of Ontario re-consider their previous decision and declare intimate partner violence and gender-based violence as an epidemic and act on all of 86 recommendations from the Renfrew County Inquest by setting up a provincial implementation committee to oversee comprehensive consideration of all of the recommendations;
  4. That the Algoma Family Services Board President and the CEO write a letter to The Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada requesting that the Government of Canada re-consider their previous decision and declare intimate partner violence and gender-based violence as an epidemic and act on all of 86 recommendations from the Renfrew County Inquest by setting up a federal committee to oversee the provinces of Canada comprehensive consideration of all of the recommendations;
  5. That a copy of this motion be sent to Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Shoemaker, Sault Ste. Marie MPP Ross Romano, Sault Ste. Marie MP Terry Sheehan, The Honourable Arif Virani, Minister of Justice; The Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario; The Honourable Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community, and Social Services; The Honourable Charmaine A. Williams, Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity; Child and Youth Mental Health Lead Agency Consortium, Family Services Ontario, Children’s Mental Health Ontario, and the Algoma Leadership Table.

Algoma Family Services is a provider of specialized services for infants, children, youth, adults, and families in the Algoma District. Our services are evidence-based, client-centered, family-focused, and delivered by a team of skilled professionals.

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