Minister chats with rural media on the subject

Joe McWilliams

Lakeside Leader

The Government of Alberta is taking aim at gender-based violence (GBV), hoping to reduce it and to improve supports for its victims. Minister of Arts, Culture and the Status of Women Tanya Fir spent time talking about the program and answering questions on May 20 in a Rural Media Roundtable. These are sessions set up specifically for small-town media to have access to government ministers.

In this case, Fir made a very optimistic case for not just reducing such violence and providing services for those affected by it, but eliminating it!

George Lee, a Local Journalism Initiative reporter from the Fort MacLeod Gazette, called that “extremely ambitious” and “aspirational,” and asked Fir how success of the initiative would be measured.

Good question, she said. It will require a consistent definition of what gender-based violence is.

That’s so the data – coming as it does from different agencies with their own understandings – can be reliably assessed. It’s a work in progress, the minister said, advising reporters to “stay tuned.”

Asked what her definition is, Fir responded by reading a definition, which in part said, “harmful acts based on their gender.” It can take many forms, she said.

Sexual violence is one type; intimate partner violence is another. Fir said in the former case, it’s estimated only one in 20 incidents gets reported. In the latter, one in five.

The government’s strategy for dealing with GBV, Fir said, is the most comprehensive of its kind in Canada. It was developed out of numerous ‘engagement sessions,’ with people involved in the issue. It entails “over 100 actions,” she said, and north of $188 million in government spending.

Some of that will be on training and resources, improving access to information and supports. A public awareness campaign is another aspect of the new strategy.

In answer to another question, Fir said the GBV strategy is “really focusing on root causes and breaking the cycle.”

“I imagine a world where we wouldn’t need women’s shelters,” she said.

Asked if she had any statistics demonstrating the need for action on GBV, Fir provided the following: 18,000 people per year report intimate partner violence; over 17,000 cases of family violence are reported, most of it against girls; 7,000 incidents of family violence involving seniors and, finally, 1.8 million Albertans say they’ve experienced sexual violence at least once in their lives, a stat Fir said “concerns me.”

How about survivors of violence who have disabilities, asked one of the reporters. Some may not respond to typical supports. What’s in your plan for them?

Part of the plan is making sure survivors are even aware of the supports, Fir said. Stakeholder engagement is so important as we roll this out.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe,” Fir said, in her concluding remarks. “Safety should never depend on where somebody lives.”