Instances of domestic violence in Airdrie increased in 2015, according to Airdrie RCMP Inspector Gordon Sage.
Though available data still needs to go through a process to ensure accuracy by RCMP, Sage said initial numbers showed 799 reports of domestic violence in 2015, compared to 470 reports in 2014.
“It’s significant,” Sage said. “In respect to the economy, I think there is a lot to that. Families are facing a lot of pressures, financially and (otherwise). Police forces are finding the same thing elsewhere.
“There is a lot of pressure on families. I think that’s a big part of it. From the members going to these calls, (we see) families are facing those kinds of pressures.”
Domestic violence includes all instances of abuse, be it violent or otherwise, within the home. Angela Wright, executive director with the Airdrie and District Victims Assistance Society, said domestic violence files at the organization have increased 210 per cent over the last five years.
“(The economy) probably has something to do with the most recent increases, I would say so. We don’t get that feedback all the time, but it is pretty much a given,” she said. “Financial stress is a big trigger for a lot of people.”
In response to the increase, Airdrie City council directed administration to research strategies to address domestic violence in the community on Jan. 18. Administration is to report back on its findings in the fourth quarter of 2016.
“We have really high-level data and research from the federal government, but what we know about domestic violence is that it is very specific to communities,” said Clay Aragon, social planner with the City of Airdrie. “We want to understand that from our community.
“That will help us understand where the city would lie in terms of its role in supporting domestic violence to community partners, what can they do to provide those intervention-type supports for women.”
As part of its most recent budget released Oct. 27, 2015, the Alberta government promised a variety of new initiatives designed to assist families, including an annual $15 million commitment to support women’s shelters.
Mayor Peter Brown stressed the importance of ensuring the new report contained actionable data to help move supports in the community forward.
“The qualifying data to get the province to support (our) initiatives is huge,” he said. “The more data we can capture, the more we (can) make some good decisions here.”
Demands for a women’s shelter in Airdrie prompted City administration to begin gathering information on resource support for domestic violence in 2013. Despite the increase in funding from the provincial government, movement on a shelter in Airdrie appears to be at a standstill.
“The budget has some funding for supporting existing shelters, but there (is) no funding that has been slated for building or supporting new shelters in the community,” Aragon said. “The government has said they are open to having those sorts of dialogues with the community.”
Wright said a women’s shelter in Airdrie would be beneficial to those suffering from domestic violence.
“You hear feedback from a lot of women who want to stay in their communities. They don’t want to uproot their children,” she said. “I think that would be beneficial for that female for those reasons, to be able to stay (with) family or friends nearby and not disrupting any kind of normalcy.”
