To the editor:
The Nipissing Violence Against Women Coordinating Committee (VAWCC) wishes to express its condolences and sympathy for the family, friends, and community who lost their loved ones because of Intimate Partner Violence on Monday. The tragic and extremely sad events in Sault Ste. Marie reverberates across the North leaving many who have connections to the Sault community impacted.
This tragedy occurring in a northern community, not unlike our own, is a devasting reminder of IPV’s lethal and heartbreaking impact on the lives of women and children. While the VAWCC applauds the North Bay Police Services Board declaring IPV an epidemic, police and members of the VAWCC like Victim Services are already very much aware of the deadly impact of IPV and the alarming rates in our city.
The VAWCC again urges the North Bay City Council and the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit to step up and take transformative action toward preventing IPV and supporting victims/survivors.
Tragedies such as the mass shooting in the Sault are sadly not rare in our province as 46 femicides have occurred as of September in Ontario.
IPV impacts communities of all sizes across the province and North Bay cannot continue to deny that IPV is an epidemic. The VAWCC urges the North Bay Council to include IPV in its community safety and wellbeing plan, declare IPV an epidemic, and take meaningful action.
The time to raise flags and read proclamations is long gone. Tragedies such as the brutal killing of a former partner, three children, and an attempted murder demand more than symbolic gestures. They demand action.
Kathleen Jodouin
Executive Director
Victim Services of Nipissing District
