Saskatchewan leads provinces in rates of intimate partner violence with no end in sight
A survivor says Saskatchewan still has a long way to go to lower its rate
Brenda Ottenbreit says she spent her marriage walking on eggshells while dealing with her husband's abuse. She is not alone. Saskatchewan is continuing to see a surge in intimate partner violence rates that advocates say are more than double the national average.
According to a 2022 Statistics Canada report, in 2022 Saskatchewan had the highest provincial rates of police-reported family violence in the country: 730 victims per 100,000 population, and intimate partner violence (IPV) at 732.
"I went from Christmas eve to New Years Day with not a word being said to me. Silent treatment is one of the most insidious forms of punishment," she said.
"I was timed when I went to work. In an abusive relationship like what I was in, it was also coercive control," Ottenbreit, 50, said.
Coercive control is a form of psychological and emotional abuse.
The Saskatchewan resident says while she was in the marriage, her ex-husband had financial control. She wasn't able to pay for basic things herself, including groceries.
"When you lose your autonomy, you lose a bit of yourself every time," she said. "Not being able to pay for feminine products after I had a baby was dehumanizing and humiliating."
She says her husband had a significant debt with the Canada Revenue Agency, which later froze their accounts.
It took Ottenbreit nine years of legal wrangling to get a divorce from her six-year marriage in April 2023.
She said domestic violence training is still not mandatory for sitting judges, but only for newly appointed judges.
WATCH | Advocates and a survivor ask for change as Sask. domestic violence rates remain worst among provinces:
In April 2023, Bill C-233 — otherwise known as Keira's Law — was passed, amending the Judges Act to provide for continuing education seminars for judges on matters related to IPV and coercive control.
Ottenbreit said Saskatchewan still has a long way to go with "ignorance" still rampant in the system, and she wants to do something about it.
She is looking for a member of Parliament to help her develop an education bill that would makes training in dealing with interpersonal violence mandatory across Canada "where we learn what's healthy and unhealthy, proper boundaries and what coercive control looks like, so that in 10 to 15 years we see a societal change."
'Double the national average'
Crystal Giesbrecht, director of research and communications at the Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan, said the newest statistics are not "surprising but disappointing".
"Saskatchewan continues to have rates of intimate partner and family violence that are over double the national average," she said.
Being a rural province, Giesbrecht says, Saskatchewan has rates of IPV higher for people living outside of census metropolitan areas.
"There are barriers. There's larger distances to services and help in an emergency. Those things can be reasons why someone may stay in a relationship where they're experiencing violence," Giesbrecht said.
"Women in the 12 to 24 age group are being victimized at really high rates, much higher than teen boys, but also much higher than adult women 25 and up. This really points to the need for education about intimate partner violence and about healthy relationships for young people."
She said rates of family violence, generally against older adults, are increasing. There are also higher rates of police-reported IPV against men.
Giesbrecht said lessons can be learned from provinces such as Ontario that have lowered their rates of violence over the years.
"They have been reviewing domestic violence homicides since the early 2000s, something that Saskatchewan is now doing," she said.
"In Saskatchewan, we have very high per capita rates of domestic homicide as well. Women are for the most part the adult victims, but we also see that both girl and boy children are victims of family and domestic homicide."
She said more needs to be done on educating and empowering communities to recognize risk factors and warning signs for domestic violence so that there can be interventions before danger escalates to domestic homicide.
Giesbrecht said it's important to know the data are only police reported numbers and not all incidents that are chargeable offences get reported.
"These numbers, as bad as they are, are really the tip of the iceberg. Part of the solution is to continue providing frontline services."
That also means boosting shelters and support for survivors in the community where they live, she says, and there's still "much work to be done in our province."
"There are higher rates of intimate partner violence and family violence in Indigenous communities and against Indigenous women in particular. That also intersects with the higher rates and the issues we see in rural and northern communities."
Stephanie Taylor, executive director at Regina Transition House, agrees. She says they are seeing an increase among women seeking their services.
Situation worsening post pandemic: Advocate
During the pandemic, Taylor says, many women were even more isolated than usual, and had more challenges reaching out for assistance.
"The numbers [now] are even greater than prior to the pandemic, so it does seem to be the case that there is a higher amount of violence and abuse that's occurring," she said.
"The financial situation of our country and our province is probably impacting things for families. We know financial stress goes along with intimate partner violence in terms of a factor that can increase challenges and family conflict," she said.
Taylor says last year 75 per cent of women accessing their shelter were Indigenous who "are the most vulnerable population in Regina due to financial circumstances."
She says lack of affordable safe housing and fewer resources makes it difficult to leave a violent situation, and there is a need for more second stage shelters that are publicly funded.
"Last fiscal year, we received about 1,430 calls to our crisis line for support and assistance. In this most recent fiscal year that ended at the end of March 2023, we had it around 1,525. There's definitely no decline in the amount of need," she said.
"But 29 per cent to 30 per cent are the maximum people who we are able to bring in at some point. Others usually have to wait."
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