November is Woman Abuse Prevention Month in Ontario. Today, the Halton Police Board Chair, Mayor Burton, along with representatives from the Halton Regional Police Service and Halton Women’s Place came together to dedicate a memorial to victims of Intimate Partner Violence. This new memorial is a public commitment to the memory of those who have lost their lives to Intimate Partner Violence, to honour those who have survived it, and to help those who are facing it now.
Violence against women remains a serious problem in Canada, from acts of hatred to culturally based offenses, sexual harassment, and domestic abuse. Ending abuse is everyone’s responsibility. Abuse should have no place in Halton. Abuse should have no place in society.
A bruise may last a week, a cut a month. But the damage from domestic abuse lasts a lifetime. We know abuse and violence, or its threat can prevent women and girls from leading the fulfilling lives they could as equal members of society. It is intolerable that a woman is killed by her intimate partner every 6 days in Canada, and outrageous that there are almost half a million sexual assaults every year in Canada. Our officers respond, on average, to more than nine Intimate Partner Violence calls a day – and we all know that Intimate Partner Violence is often underreported.
Together, we stand in solidarity to help end Intimate Partner Violence, because a life without violence is the only life to live.