On November 1, 2021 the Lloydminster Interval Home Society gathered outside the Lloydminster City Hall to Kick off the annual Family Violence Prevention Month Awareness campaign. This year, our CEO made the following statement at the kick off. We encourage you to become more aware of how you can make small, impactful actions to Lead From Where You Stand and help to be apart of the solution to end gender based violence. We all have a role to play in ending family violence and gender based violence against women and girls.
Hi everyone, thank you for coming! I am Angela Rooks-Trotzuk, CEO of the Lloydminster Interval Home Society and we are excited to be here, and to have you here with us, to kick-off this year’s family violence prevention month this morning!
Family violence prevention month, through November, is where we concentrate our efforts to bring awareness to the impacts of family violence and gender based violence against women and girls.
Allow me to give you some facts to help paint the picture of what our communities are dealing with when it comes to domestic and gender based violence:
- Saskatchewan has the highest domestic violence rate in the provinces, with Alberta coming in third.
- Every 6 days a woman in Canada is murdered by her intimate partner
- Indigenous women are killed at 6 times the rate of non-indigenous women
- Domestic violence has a profound effect on children – children who witness violence in the home have 2 times the rate of psychiatric disorders than children from non-violent homes
- Women are at greater risk of experiencing elder abuse from a family member, accounting for 60% of older adult survivors of family violence
- And, Canadians collectively spend 7.4 billion dollars annually to deal with the aftermath of spousal violence alone. Just think if we could invest that money into primary prevention rather than crisis response.
I hope this gives you a sobering look at the impact of domestic violence. The Lloydminster Interval Home Society sees the exact same impacts in our programs. Here at home, we are not immune to the impacts of violence.
The individuals accessing our services aren’t women and children just looking for a break from some relationship stress. These are women and their children looking to flee violence in their homes. They are looking to save their children from being abused and are trying to stop the cycle.
Hopefully, you are asking, what can I do to help. We hope you are asking, ‘how can I lead from where I stand’, which happens to be our theme for this year. We would like you to think about some of the false beliefs and misconceptions you may have about gender based violence. Learn the truth – that it can happen to anyone and almost everyone will know of someone directly impacted by this type of violence. The most important thing you can do to help is understand that this is a very serious and extremely complex issue in your community right now. Then, learn of the resources in your community that can help, such as the Lloydminster Interval Home Society. Also, learn how to respond to someone who is experiencing violence. Don’t be afraid to ask them, ‘how can I help?’ And then point them in our direction. That’s it. It’s that simple for everyone to be able to offer support to those suffering with the horrific impacts of family violence. Please reach out to us whether you or someone you know is suffering, or whether you want to learn more. Our greatest wish is that we can mobilize our entire community around the issue of family and gender based violence and support everyone who needs us.
Please help us in anyway you can.
Thank you.
