Intimate partner violence impacts whole community, epidemic must be declared in Waterloo region, groups say

The Region of Waterloo needs to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic to acknowledge just how big of an issue it is locally, the CEO of Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo Region says.

Later this month, the service's CEO Jennifer Hutton will be joined by representatives from the Waterloo Regional Police Service and other community partners at a regional council meeting. They're part of the Family Violence Project of Waterloo Region and they'll ask councillors to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic. 

"It's really important that our region declares intimate partner violence an epidemic because it really gives some weight to the issue," Hutton said. "It's a message to survivors to say we're taking this seriously, this is a huge issue and we need action." 

The Family Violence Project of Waterloo Region is a collective formed in 2006, working to address family violence.

In the province last year, there was the equivalent to a femicide a week, according to the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses — a trend that continued into 2023.  

In its 2022-23 annual report, Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo Region said they provided crisis support to 2,412 people through support lines and online chats and provided shelter for 383 people.

The Region of Waterloo would not be the first municipality to declare an epidemic. The City of Kitchener just made the declaration last week. That followed other municipalities such as Peel Region, Hamilton, London, Ottawa and Toronto, which have also declared epidemics.

"I think when you have elected officials stating that it also gives them some responsibility in keeping the conversation going and in making sure that action follows that conversation," Hutton said.

'We need to work together'

Staff Sgt. Jamie Brosseau of the Waterloo Regional Police Service's intimate partner violence unit said a similar declaration made by the County of Lanark council was inspiration for them pushing for it here.

"It's just really important to recognize that this needs to be a community response, right?" Brosseau told CBC News.

"There's no one agency that really can bring a lasting solution to dealing with intimate partner violence. It's very, very complex," Brosseau added.

"We need to work together and that includes not just the people on the ground, but our elected officials."

Brosseau said that the declaration could potentially lead to more funding for the issue, but it's only a part of the reason to have an epidemic declared.

"We have agencies and people that are doing very, very important work in our community to support our victims, to help them recover from trauma, to help their families, and at times they're scraping funding together," Brosseau said.

"I don't think we can have this conversation without talking about how our important agencies are funded."

Hutton said it's a global issue but it's something that people are realizing is happening in their own neighbourhoods.

"I think there is growing awareness of just how common intimate partner violence is and how many people that it impacts and how it impacts communities," Hutton said.