Manitoba program aimed at preventing domestic violence seeing success
A two-year trial program aimed at preventing domestic violence is being made permanent.
During the pandemic, the number of domestic violence cases increases, so a 2021 pilot program aimed at preventing incidents from escalating was put in place. Now the program is being made permanent.
"We came up with this phrase ‘safe at home,’ and for many people we know that home is not a safe place," said Families Minister Rochelle Squires.
The program involves having three Victim Services staff members from Manitoba Justice stationed at the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters.
Their job is to work with officers on how to best respond to domestic calls of a non-criminal nature.
In a lot of the cases, the victims are simply looking for information or referrals for services like shelters or compensation programs.
"We attempted to divert the calls out of the queue where people only need advice and direction,” said Insp. Eric Luke of the Winnipeg Police Service.
The province and police say instead of waiting for help, which could take days, it's now provided within hours.
The team handles around 12,000 non-criminal domestic incidents annually, with around 700 of those directed through the pilot program.
"Domestic violence calls are the highest received by Victim Services and this is a much needed alternative response to meet those needs,” said Misty Bousquet of Victim Services Manitoba.
The Manitoba Association of Women's Shelters is encouraged by the news that the program is now permanent
"We knew that it was going very well, we saw that it was effective," said Amrita Chavan with the Manitoba Association of Women’s Shelters.
However, Chavan said all levels of government need to do more to prevent gender-based violence by boosting core funding for frontline agencies and adding additional safe affordable housing options for survivors.
"For them to truly heal and move on to their journey towards empowerment they need to have housing," Chavan said.
The province said it has increased shelter funding from $6 million to $15 million, and has created a gender-based violence framework.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.