A local committee dedicated to addressing intimate partner violence against women has recommenced operations and will ask Prince George city council for support at its Monday, April 7 meeting.
According to a delegation request form attached to the meeting agenda, the Violence Against Women in Relationships Committee (VAWIR) “is a multi-organizational committee that has a long history in Prince George and has recently re-grouped after dying out during COVID.”
“The provincial VAWIR policy was created by the Ministry of Attorney General in Canada and came into effect December 2010,” the document said.
“We would like to attend a council meeting in order to present what exactly our committee is, who we are, how we are working to stem violence against women in relationships in our community, and how we can work with mayor and council to do this together.”
Presentation slides also attached to the agenda say that the group’s goal is to develop a co-ordinated response to intimate partner violence.
Quoted 2019 figures from Statistics Canada in the presentation said that just 19 per cent of spousal violence victims reported their abuse to police, a 10 per cent drop over the previous 10 years.
The committee is requesting that the city help them by recognizing their efforts on the city’s website, supporting their events and initiatives, have mayor and council attend a meeting and provide ongoing representation, hold twice-yearly meetings between council and the committee and support the 231 calls for justice from the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
The presentation notes that the city previously issued a proclamation for Purple Tuesday on Oct. 13, 2023 to acknowledge the one in three women who will receive a brain injury due to intimate partner violence in Canada and council’s declaration that intimate partner violence is an epidemic from last year.
The delegation’s presentation is the first item on the meeting’s agenda.
As usual, the meeting starts at 6 p.m. in council chambers on the second floor of Prince George City Hall.
The public can either attend the meeting or watch it livestreamed on princegeorge.ca.
