York police, community groups launch campaign to raise awareness of intimate partner violence

York Regional Police and community groups say they have launched a new bus and billboard campaign to draw attention to the "pervasive and truly heartbreaking" problem of intimate partner violence.

The campaign, called Access to Justice: Integrated Services for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence, aims to raise awareness, to encourage survivors to report abuse and to spark conversations with the intent of changing societal attitudes about the problem, police said at a news conference on Monday.

"Intimate partner violence affects every community across every culture and societal boundary," Alvaro Almeida, deputy chief of investigations for York Regional Police, told reporters in Aurora, Ont.

The campaign, which will run for three months, will feature ads on York Region transit buses and two billboards, one in Vaughan and one in Newmarket. Ontario's Ministry of the Solicitor General has paid for the ads.

York Regional Police said they respond to more than 6,000 calls yearly about intimate partner violence. Of those, criminal charges are laid in more than 2,000 incidents.

Almeida said police are working with the community to support survivors by embedding an officer in the York Region Centre for Community Safety, a non-profit organization in Markham, to ensure that survivors do not have to go to a police station to report an incident. The ads include a toll-free number for the centre.

"We really want to avoid re-traumatizing victims by having them repeat their stories over and over again," Almeida said.

Intimate partner violence underreported, police say

Rhonda Corsi, superintendent of investigative services for York Regional Police, said intimate partner violence is a "chronically" underreported crime and the risk of violence is higher for women who are Indigenous, racialized or newcomers to Canada.

Corsi said one particular lethal form of intimate partner violence is strangulation or choking, which can have lasting effects on victims and result in unconsciousness and death.

The campaign is not only intended to educate the public about the prevalence of the problem but also to alert survivors to their options, she added.

"Together, our message to victims and survivors is — recognize, report and prevent it," she said.

Jaspreet Gill, executive director of the York Region Centre for Community Safety, said survivors need to know that there are resources available to them. She said the centre is in essence a hub that provides "wraparound, holistic" supports to survivors. The centre served 550 adults and 790 of their children last year.

"Intimate partner violence is an epidemic. It is so pervasive that one in three women throughout the world will experience physical and/or sexual violence by a partner. We can no longer distance ourselves from this reality," Gill said.

Gill said there is a perception that intimate partner violence is a women's issue. But it is not only women who are at risk, but also children and the larger community, she said.

Perpetrators of intimate partner violence have gone on to commit mass shootings, she said. A recent example is a shooting in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. in October that left five people dead, including the shooter, she added.

"It is very much a community issue," she said.

Simone Spiegel, communications director for the 482 Collective, a charity in Vaughan, said the collective supports women and children struggling to make ends meet after fleeing intimate partner violence and other forms of abuse.

It delivers essential items to clients, including food, cleaning supplies, hygiene products, kitchen and home items. 

"As a collective, we value collaborative relationships with community partners who share our values, especially this partnership. We recognize that each of our organizations has its own strengths. When we work together, we can provide meaningful and equitable access to the services and supports that we provide to vulnerable people in the community," she said.