Intimate Partner Violence

It was with shock that I listened to a CBC Radio program yesterday, describing the rise of intimate partner violence (IPV) to, quite literally, epidemic proportions.

The speaker detailed the push in Ottawa to declare IPV an epidemic. Bill S-249, also known as Georgina’s Law, is a call for a federal strategy to address IPV.

The fight for this hidden, mostly secretive disorder to be brought to this point, was 7 years in the making. This was largely thanks to the unwavering efforts of Georgina McGrath who was a victim of emotional, mental, and physical abuse, including a beating that almost took her life in 2014.

One might automatically think – with bad memories – of COVID19 as an epidemic. But intimate partner violence? An epidemic?

As a counsellor, I thought I was aware of how prevalent IPV is. Further research revealed the horrifying truth – every 6 days, a woman in Canada dies from IPV.

In other words, every 6 days, a woman dies in the hands of someone she loved. Someone she had put her trust in. Someone she had given her heart to. Someone she had started a family with.

This has to end.