Tackling the Crisis in Intimate Partner Violence in Alberta

The North Saskatchewan River cuts through the prairies, carving its way across Saskatchewan and Alberta. During the harsh prairie winters, the river is usually half covered with ice, with bright blue waters occasionally peeking through.

It was on the banks of the half-frozen river in Edmonton that Ashley Burke’s body was found in the final days of 2024. Originally from Nova Scotia, Burke is remembered as a loving mother. Her partner has since been charged with her murder.

In February, Edmonton was the site of yet another death due to intimate partner violence, when a 36-year-old man stabbed Erin Kern to death in a home in the Strathearn neighbourhood. Kern was an avid volunteer, and is remembered for her love of animals.

Alberta, like the rest of Canada, is grappling with intimate partner violence, or IPV, defined by the Government of Canada as “a prevalent form of gender-based violence. It refers to multiple forms of harm caused by a current or former intimate partner or spouse.”

From coast to coast, people, particularly women, are being killed by those closest to them. More still are enduring abuse behind closed doors.

Forty-four per cent of women and girls in Canada have experienced IPV at some point in their life. I am one of them. In a relationship long since passed, with violence far less harrowing than what makes the news, I lived with the mixture of fear and shame that is foundational to this form of abuse.

My story, however, is not particularly unique. And that is perhaps what I now find the most unsettling about it — how common the reality of intimate partner violence is.

Statistically, it’s a crisis that is growing. In Alberta alone, 2023 saw a 10-year high in calls for help, with a 19-per-cent increase in shelter use by those escaping domestic violence.

These statistics reflect a sobering nationwide trend: that intimate partner violence rates have been increasing across the country.

From 2018 to 2023, overall rates of family violence and intimate partner violence rose alongside an increase of police-reported violent crime, according to Statistics Canada.

In times of crisis, they say it’s important to look for the helpers.

In Alberta, I see frontline workers and local agencies working tirelessly to support survivors of intimate partner violence. They are also doing the critical work of preventing such violence from occurring entirely.

The news can seem bleak these days. But I see so much hope in three Alberta organizations doing invaluable work in addressing and responding to intimate partner violence.

Next Gen Men: addressing violence at its roots

Active across Canada with a number of Alberta-based hubs, Next Gen Men is a non-profit working to address the roots of gender-based violence, or GBV.

Gender-based violence is an umbrella term, one that encapsulates both intimate partner violence and domestic violence or family violence, which refers to any violence within the family unit.

The organization works by helping boys and men to engage with healthy, non-violent masculinity. Its members describe Next Gen Men’s goals to “have always been about challenging the culture at the root of the pain men and boys feel as well as the harms they inflict on others — so we’re primarily talking about patriarchy.”

In 2016, Next Gen Men launched their first-ever “Circle,” a talking space to deconstruct patriarchy, in Calgary, with later expansions into Edmonton and Medicine Hat.

Beyond their in-person programming, Next Gen Men also offers extensive digital programs aimed at boys and youth. Their NGM Alliance program, based on Discord, is a digital space aimed at fostering community for young people that centres mental wellness and peer support.

In mobilizing boys as allies in the effort to combat gender-based violence, Next Gen Men helps to counter the very foundations of intimate partner violence. This work reflects the importance of having early, ongoing discussions with boys and young men about what healthy masculinity can look like.

Sagesse: addressing violence before it starts

Sagesse is a Calgary-based non-profit that, like Next Gen Men, works to address violence before it starts.

Carrie McManus, Sagesse’s director of innovation and programs, noted the importance of youth-based education in preventing violence.

“We need to continue to talk about how we support and empower teens and youth to have healthy relationships and set healthy boundaries,” she said, “recognizing that what we develop as normal within our first relationships will be how we view relationships throughout our lifetimes.”

One particularly noteworthy program of Sagesse is called Real Talk, which serves as a resource for the open discussion and recognition of domestic violence.

“Real Talk empowers people to understand that domestic abuse and coercive control can look different for everyone. It’s about connecting with your own knowledge and relationships and simply asking if someone is okay or if they need help,” McManus said.

“You don’t need to have all the answers — just being there and showing you care can make a big difference.”

Wood Buffalo Pride: addressing specific needs

While intimate partner violence affects all communities, it impacts some groups more acutely.

Those in rural areas, Indigenous peoples and members of the LGBTQ2S+ community often face higher rates of violence, as well as unique challenges when seeking support.

Organizations like Wood Buffalo Pride, based in northern Alberta, are vital in addressing these specific needs.

Rowan Morris, Wood Buffalo Pride’s Indigenous and rural outreach coordinator, noted the myriad issues that LGBTQ2S+ survivors of violence may face when seeking out supports in rural and northern Alberta.

“There are less resources available to call for help in northern and rural communities, period,” Morris said.

“Even in urban centres, there are services folks are more comfortable accessing than others due to their treatment of diverse relationships and identities. What happens when the only resource available to you has a history of being negligent?”

Rowan, who also founded the advocacy collective Trans Rights YEG, further explained why this potential negligence is so harmful.

“When you are in a state of survival and accessing support from violence, microaggressions, misgendering and assumptions can be just enough to push you out of that space completely and away from support entirely,” he said.

Due to limited resources, a lack of inclusive services and the risk of stigma, intimate partner violence survivors in rural and northern Albertan communities may feel unsafe seeking support. These concerns are particularly prevalent for LGBTQ2S+ community members.

By advocating for inclusive, intersectional services and creating safer spaces, Wood Buffalo Pride helps ensure people can access the help they need without fear of discrimination or being outed.

Their work is vital in filling the gaps left by traditional services, making them an indispensable ally in combating intimate partner violence.

Crucial work, and an uncertain future

While the efforts of organizations like Next Gen Men, Sagesse and Wood Buffalo Pride are invaluable, they face significant challenges due to the precarious nature of their funding.

Various federal entities currently provide funding to initiatives aimed at preventing gender-based violence, and to organizations working to support those who have survived violence.

However, with a looming deficit, calls to cut the federal public service and drastically reduce government spending, plus a federal election on the horizon, their essential work in the fight against gender-based violence may be impacted.

With rates of violence rising, the threat of lost funding is particularly acute. Across the border, the devastating impacts of cuts to domestic violence funding are already being felt.

As somebody who has experienced intimate partner violence, my greatest wish is for future generations to live without experiencing violence.

Yet it’s only through actively supporting the organizations working to break cycles of violence today that we can begin to imagine a future without violence tomorrow.

Even in the dead of winter, the North Saskatchewan River flows beneath the ice, steady and persistent. So too do the organizations working to end intimate partner violence.

With the right support, their efforts can help create a future where safety is the norm, not the exception.