Ontario should have declared intimate partner violence (IPV) an epidemic, according to the head of Sarnia-Lambton's Sexual Assault Survivors Centre (SASC).
In late June, the province responded to 30 recommendations aimed at reducing IPV; 10 were accepted, a dozen were partly accepted and eight recommendations were rejected. SASC Executive Director Chantel Butterfield did not support the province's decision to forgo declaring IPV an epidemic.
"I'm frustrated, sad, very disappointed," said Butterfield. "It was a recommendation based on facts and research, and it aligned with the definition of what an epidemic is, and it would've cost the Ontario government absolutely nothing."
The recommendations, stemming from an inquest into the 2015 murders of three women outside of Ottawa, called on the provincial and federal governments to adopt a list of 86 measures.
Butterfield talked about why the epidemic declaration would have helped.
"It would've validated what we already know to be a major issue within our society," she said. "Along with letting women, girls and gender diverse folks know that the people they elected into power actually see them as human beings and reinforce that their lives matter."
Butterfield said the issue is very prevalent, and that just last year, Ontario had 52 femicides in 52 days. "And that's only the tip of the iceberg considering what we know," she said. "There are many femicides that are not statistically counted as such due to, kind of the oppressive nature with which our society counts Indigenous and gender diverse folks. As well, those who are found as Jane Does."
Butterfield also said it's a prevalent issue in Sarnia-Lambton. "This year alone, we've already had 23 femicides in Ontario in less than six months," she said. "And in a span of a month at the beginning of last year in Sarnia-Lambton, we had three femicides."
Butterfield said dozens of municipalities have already declared IPV an epidemic.
"It doesn't include Sarnia yet and it definitely should," she said.
Butterfield, who's also the Coordinating Committee on Violence Against Women in Sarnia, said the group is to meet with council to request that IPV be declared an epidemic in Sarnia.
