Greater Sudbury declares intimate partner violence an epidemic, joining other Ontario municipalities

Greater Sudbury councillors unanimously declared intimate partner violence an epidemic at a council meeting Tuesday night.

Mayor Paul Lefebvreput forwardthe motion after ashooting that left five people dead in Sault Ste. Marie two weeks ago, saying the incident added to the urgency of acting now.

"Through this motion and declaration, council is really recognizing survivors and offering hope to those who are experiencing gender based violence or may experience it in the future," he said.

By adopting the motion, councillors are calling on the provincial and federal governments to provide more funding for this sector to increase programming and services.

It's the kind of influx of money local organizations could really use, saidMarlene Gorman, executive director of YWCA Sudbury Genevra House, an emergency shelter for women escaping abusive partners.

"We need more prevention programs," she said. "We need more counselling programs for survivors, perpetratorsand the children that get caught in the crossfire."

Gormanaddedthat local shelters do not have enough capacity to meet demand.

"It's morally depleting for our staff to take phone calls from women on a daily basisand having to tell them our shelter is full," she said.

Council heard some 12,000 domestic violence-related calls were made to the Greater Sudbury Police Service between 2019 and 2022.

Province hasn'tdeclared intimate partner violence an epidemic

Greater Sudbury is the latest Ontario municipality to add its name to the growing list of cities and regions thathave declared intimate partner violence an epidemic.

Earlier this year, the federal governmentdid declare the issue to be an epidemic,in response to the recommendations froma coroner's inquest into the deaths of three women in RenfrewCounty.

The province, however, has rejected calls to follow suit. It says the term epidemic is used to describe infectious diseasesand does not apply to an issue like intimate partner violence.

Gorman doesn't agree with that argument.

"They need to look up the definitions of the determinants of health, and part of that determinants of health is having a safe place to live, and so many people do not."