Manitoba Domestic Violence Awareness Month: Supports available to those struggling [Video]

Amid an alarming rise in the number of Manitobans seeking support for intimate partner violence, advocates are reminding the public there is help available.

November marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

According to the Manitoba Association of Women’s Shelters, our province has the second highest police reported rate of intimate partner violence in Canada.

Suzanne Robertson, director of mental health and crisis services at Klinic Community Health, said the organization has seen an increase in demand for domestic violence services since the pandemic.

“We know that there are not enough resources to begin with, and we also know that domestic violence spans across race, age, gender, sexuality, and that there’s no particular demographic or community of people who are at higher risk,” she said.

Still, she notes statistics show that when some of those identity markers compound or intersect, people like Indigenous women, women of colour and queer folks are at higher risk to be exposed or …