Angels Corner rededication ignites renewed calls to stop violence
On the last day as executive director of the Coalition Against Violence - Avalon East, Connie Pike says not enough headway has been made in combating violence in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Pike was one of many people who donned purple and gathered at Angels Corner at the corner of Prescott and Duckworth Streets for a rededication ceremony.
The City of St. John's has promised to revitalize Angels Corner, which opened in 2011, with new greenery and clean benches.
The rally was in honour of victims of violence and became a platform for advocates to call on government to help stop violence before it starts.
"I want to be honest about this, I took this position — it was on an interim basis — and I thought I was going to see a lot of improvements being made," said Pike, following the rally.
While the amount of resources in the community has increased, it's not going through the right channels to best serve the community, Pike, a former Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer, told reporters.
"There are more places people can go for help but the bottom line is we haven't done significant enough work to address the root causes of violence."
"If we don't address the root causes of violence, we will be standing here having this same discussion in another decade."
Pike said the solution may be in the implementation of more policies, protocols and standards.
The reality is there aren't significant improvements.- Connie Pike
In addition, Pike said society's mindset has to change, so that domestic violence isn't thought of as only a women's issue — although women represent the majority of domestic violence victims.
"To keep it pigeonholed as a women's issue is really doing a disservice to everyone in the community, because violence affects everyone — men, women and children," she said.
"We know that the men who commit these types of crimes are the minority — and we're thankful for that — but we need the vast majority who are good men to speak up and understand that this is an issue impacting us all."
Looming budget worrying
Pike said her organization has not heard whether or not it will be impacted by the upcoming provincial government budget.
"I can tell you that I'm worried," she said. "We haven't been given any information."
In a time of financial government restraint, Pike said the ten violence prevention groups across the province already run on a minuscule amount of funding.