Advice: Domestic violence is predictable – and preventable

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It’s a clear red flag.

When most men accused of domestic violence are already on the police radar, it means we have missed an opportunity to intervene before the violence escalates.

This work is urgent: Alberta’s intimate partner violence rates are, too higher than the national averageand last year, requests assistance to domestic violence shelters through The Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters hit a 10-year high.

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The harsh reality is that the The majority of perpetrators of domestic violence in Canada are men. Men commit 99 percent of sexual assaults against women and are three times more likely committing crimes, including violent crimes.

Earlier this month we released a reporting to the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy, analyzing a decade of data from the Calgary Police Service and focusing on previous police contacts of male perpetrators who experienced domestic violence in 2019.

According to the reportAn astonishing 73 percent of men charged with domestic violence were previously involved in an incident with the police. Furthermore, for 64 percent of these men, there was a marked increase in police interactions for domestic violence and criminal activity in the two years prior to the domestic violence charge.

In other words, the majority of male perpetrators of domestic violence have previous charges or a history of other police encounters. And for most male perpetrators, these interactions with police are on an upward trend just before they commit a criminal offense of domestic violence. This research teaches us that domestic violence is not a random event. There are different behavioral patterns that we can recognize, follow and address.

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Our findings have powerful implications for all of Alberta: we have an opportunity to prevent the escalation of violence for most perpetrators who come into contact with police. By paying attention to these risk factors and providing the right support at the right time, we can disrupt and prevent the escalation of violence.

It is time to shift the burden of tackling violence from survivors to a focus on stopping male-perpetrated violence immediately – not by assigning blame or shame, but by providing targeted support at the right time and at the right time. the right place and by reducing the stigma around men seek help.

We know Alberta is well positioned to become the first province in Canada to develop and finance development a strategy for engaging and mobilizing men and boys to prevent violence. We have promising prevention approaches across the province, including the work of Next generation of menthe Center for Sexuality WiseGuyz programthe Alberta’s Men’s Networkas well as that of FearIsNotLove men advice program together with the Men&project – a digital strategy so that men can access and receive support from home.

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To capitalize on this momentum, we need action from the Alberta government across all its ministries; domestic violence cannot be labeled as a women’s problem Men are responsible for most of the violence continued against all people. This is a matter for the Ministries of Justice and Public Security.

Shiftour research center for violence prevention has been advocating for its implementation by the government for more than fourteen years evidence-based recommendations Unpleasant involving men and boys in violence prevention. We know what needs to be done. We have leaders and organizations across Alberta who want to do this work. We need resources and political will now.

We call on Attorney General Mickey Amery and Public Safety Secretary Mike Ellis to prioritize funding to intervene with male perpetrators for the violence escalates. This cannot be the sole responsibility of the Minister for the Status of Women, Tanya Fir.

Tackling the root causes of domestic violence means focusing our policies, resources and policing practices on preventing male perpetration.

We’ve discovered how to read the warning signs of domestic violence; now we must act on it.

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Lana Wells is the Brenda Strafford Chair in Domestic Violence Prevention and co-author of ‘Exploring Typologies’, a new report on the police backgrounds of male perpetrators. She leads Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence – a primary prevention research center in the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary.