Dec. 6: It’s time for New Brunswick to declare Intimate Partner Violence an Epidemic

On this National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, the New Brunswick Federation of Labour (NBFL) is calling on the New Brunswick Government to follow the lead of other provinces and to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic.
“Nova Scotia recently adopted legislation declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic. This opens the door to increasing government resources allocated to prevent violence and to support survivors,” says Tasha Salesse, NBFL Vice-President responsible for Women’s Issues. “In Ontario, a similar bill has passed second reading and is in committee. If these provinces can do it, so should we. New Brunswick leads the country with the highest increase, 39%, in intimate partner violence rates over a 12-year period.”
From 2009 to 2021, New Brunswick showed the highest increase in intimate partner violence in all of Canada, namely a 39% increase. In 2021, a total of 3,172 people in New Brunswick reported experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). In 2019, in New Brunswick, 77% of people who reported intimate partner violence to police were women and 23% were men. In 2021, there were 497 cases of intimate partner violence per 100,000 persons in New Brunswick while that number was 345 per 100,000 in Canada.
“Women face violence on so many levels. Jobs predominantly held by women are often marked by various forms of violence,” says Daniel Légère, NBFL President. “Violence should not be part of anybody’s job description. Governments, employers and unions must work together to eliminate gender-based violence.”
Every year, from November 25th (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) to December 10th (International Human Rights Day), people in Canada take part in the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence organized by the United Nations. This initiative was started by activists at the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991.
December 6, National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women, falls within those 16 days of activism. It commemorates the anti-feminist massacre at the École Polytechnique. On December 6, 1989, 14 young women were killed simply for being women. Every year since then, on December 6, we commemorate these 14 young women and all women, girls, two-spirited, transgender, non-binary, and gender nonconforming people murdered or survivors of gendered violence in their homes, their communities, their workplaces and their unions.
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For information, please contact:
Tasha Salesse
Vice President responsible for Women’s Issues
(506) 639-9851