More people need to talk about brain injuries from intimate partner violence, say advocates

Warning: This article contains information about domestic violence.

Some advocates say there is not enough awareness of how intimate partner violence can lead to traumatic brain injury.

Glenda James is the executive director of the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association, which was developed by brain injury survivors and their families more than three decades ago to provide supports and services.

Even though James has been working in the field of brain injuries for more than a decade, she said she hadn't considered how domestic violence could lead to brain injuries. She said that gap in her knowledge demonstrates why more awareness is needed.

"It seems quite logical in hindsight, but it didn't occur to me before," James said.

Saskatchewan had the highest rates of intimate partner violence among the Canadian provinces in a Statistics Canada report released in 2021.

Purple Thursday, which is this week, is meant to bring awareness to intimate partner violence. The day has previously been U.S.-based, but this year the Canadian Royal Purple Society has adopted it in Canada for the first time and is specifically focusing on the connection to traumatic brain injuries.

James said the hope is that Purple Thursday can lead to better services for people specifically suffering from brain injury from intimate partner violence and more conversations about the issue. She said that in her experience, people avoid those conversations.

Addressing the silence

Nneka MacGregor, a co-founder and executive director for Women's Centre for Social Justice, started the non-profit when she found there weren't enough resources for women survivors of gender-based violence, including herself.

She said intimate partner violence remains hidden behind closed residential doors and seen as a "private matter between the couple," she said.

"Trying to raise awareness about the lived experiences of survivors navigating intimate partner violence, it's a huge challenge, because many in society don't want to think about it, they don't want to talk about it," MacGregor told Shauna Powers, host of CBC's Saskatchewan Weekend.

LISTEN | Nneka MacGregor talks Purple Thursday and awareness of brain injuries from intimate partner violence:

Saskatchewan Weekend16:17How intimate partner violence creates traumatic brain injury

The connection between intimate partner violence and traumatic brain injury is more common than you'd think. We'll meet a survivor who is working hard to help women who find themselves in this situation. Nneka MacGregor is the co-founder and executive director of the Women’s Centre for Social Justice, more commonly known as Women at the Centre. She joins host Shauna Powers ahead of a workshop in Regina this week.

While based in Ontario, MacGregor is going to be in Regina for the Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan conference on Wednesday to talk about research into strangulation among women survivors of intimate partner violence.

She said she wants to educating people about the issue of traumatic brain injuries from intimate partner violence and inspire change.

"It's not something that's happening to those people, it's something that's happening to someone you know," MacGregor said.

"It's about everybody: what can we collectively do to bring about a society where everybody is living free of violence?"

Intimate partner violence needs more response, say advocates

James said that, similar to how concussions in sports are becoming better understood, brain injuries from intimate partner violence need to be better researched.

Statistics Canada reported in 2021 that more than two in five women and one in three men had experienced intimate partner violence.

The report stated that "the vast majority of [intimate partner violence] did not come to the attention of police," because it may have not been perceived as a criminal matter.

We need to be shocked by the statistic that they're experiencing brain injury caused by someone who should be a partner in their life.- Glenda James, executive director, Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association

According to a study from the University of Virginia on intimate partner violence and traumatic brain injury from 2016 found it's difficult to research the issue because people don't seek treatment unless the abuse is severe.

It said a literature review found that 60 to 92 per cent abused women had traumatic brain injuries correlated to intimate partner violence.

"We need to be shocked by the statistic that they're experiencing brain injury caused by someone who should be a partner in their life," James said.

"I want the general population to stand up and say 'no, this is absolutely not OK.'"

Support is available for anyone who has been abused or assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. ​​If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.