Annual Statistics

5 September 2008

Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters

Domestic Violence Information

Alberta data:

• Alberta leads the provinces in domestic assault, homicide-suicide, stalking and is third in domestic homicide.
• From 2000 – 2006 in Alberta, over 170 homicides were identified as domestic violence related.  This represents about one third of all the homicides in the province.

ACWS Shelter Data: 1 April 2007 – 31 March 2008

• Over 12,000 women and children were resident in Alberta’s shelters.
• Over 14,000 women and children sought shelter and were unable to be accommodated.
• Shelters handled nearly 70,000 crisis calls.
• 88% of women resident in emergency shelters who have taken the Danger Assessment instrument, report being at further risk or serious risk of assault or homicide.  This marks a 10% increase over the previous fiscal year.

Domestic Violence in the Workplace Data:

• ACWS is at the start of a 5-year, $250,000 research initiative on domestic violence in the Alberta workplace, with a focus on developing interventions (Health Sciences Association of Alberta funded).
• To date, through working sessions and focus groups, we have identified a sustained need in the business community for appropriate tools and training to address domestic violence in the workplace.
• Domestic violence in the workplace has been identified as the fastest growing type of workplace violence in Canada:
• Less than 50% of Canadian workplaces have polices to manage this risk.
• 70% of domestic violence victims are victimized at work.
• 68% of Alberta victims report being harassed at work; 50% interfered with at work; or 47% partner refused to let her work.
• Over 75% of perpetrators who have been charged used workplace resources.

The role of men in solving domestic violence:

Men who hold positions of power in government, non-profit organizations, business, and labor unions can do much to prevent men’s violence against women if they take two critical steps:

1. Recognize domestic and sexual violence prevention as a leadership issue for men, and
2. Start to think creatively about how they can push their institutions to address it.

[Men] need to be persuaded that prevention is a widely shared institutional goal, and that it is their responsibility to be as knowledgeable and proactive about these issues as possible.

Jackson Katz, The Macho Paradox: Why some men hurt women and how all men can help, 268.