Measuring the success and strength of our community by the health and wellbeing of all citizens
In 2021, 58 women & girls in Ontario were killed by the men in their lives who claimed to love them. Sometimes referred to as the shadow pandemic growing amidst the Covid-19 crisis, emerging data, as well as anecdotal stories, demonstrate that the number & severity of domestic violence cases have intensified.
The Covid-19 pandemic, with resulting social & physical isolation, employment interruptions, financial pressures, and lack of safe & affordable housing, has led to unprecedented levels of violence against women, family violence and gender-based violence as well as exceptionally high levels of mental health & substance abuse issues. This has impacted adults, youth & children.
Community services have faced extraordinary pressures to adapt and meet the needs of the most vulnerable in our community. The continued fallout, with staff burnout and shortage, along with the compounding trauma of both those working in the sector and those needing support, is yet to be fully understood.
To bring awareness to stressors & gaps in our social fabric, the LCCEWA launched their 4th Annual Snapshot on January 26th, 2022. Developed as an ‘action-in-a-box' regional strategy to engage and inform government about the state of our communities. The goal is to build a bigger wave of public attention to the epidemic of femicide and violence against women and children.
The Snapshot is a critical advocacy tool that helps tell the stories and highlight the numbers of people who are struggling to survive. It also connects the dots between social and systemic intersectional issues that include violence against women, inequality, rising poverty, mental health, addictions, engaging men who use violence, human trafficking, affordable housing, and employment.
Understanding and addressing the complexity of social issues is essential for prevention, informed policies, and prioritizing support for families. It is critical for municipal, provincial, and federal leaders to better understand that violence committed against women is a bi-partisan societal issue that has individual, social and economic costs.
The LCCEWA continues its close work with the City of London on the strategic pillar dedicated to keeping women and girls safe. London is the first city in the country to make a statement that violence against women is everyone’s responsibility, including the municipality. We also continue to work together as a community to develop a shared understanding about dynamic risk assessment utilizing B-Safer, an evidence-based Canadian tool that utilizes a trauma and violence-informed lens that works toward increasing safety for women and children. And we are excited to pilot a Violence Against Women Coordinating Committee table that includes our partners in Middlesex County. By the end of 2022 we hope to decide about permanently bringing together the Middlesex and London Coordinating Committee tables to better serve the London-Middlesex region.
Click through to download PDF of 2021 Snapshot in French and for further narratives from Anova and Sakeenah Homes.
Click through to download PDF of 2021 Snapshot, 2020 Snapshot, 2019 Snapshot and 2018 Snapshot
