ST. PAUL - While the focus of the global pandemic remains on slowing the spread of COVID-19, some organizations have noted that a dangerous shadow pandemic has been growing. In St. Paul, statistics point to a clear increase in the number of reported domestic violence incidents.
The Capella Centre Women’s Shelter in St. Paul has seen a notable increase in both severity and risk with domestic violence cases in the area, confirms Noreen Cotton, executive director. "Recent reports show the number of referrals from the RCMP to the Capella Centre’s Family Violence Liaison (FVL) have also increased exponentially," she explains.
Important work has been taking place at the Capella Centre throughout the entire pandemic, and the centre's FVL has continued to work alongside local RCMP officers, as they respond to a higher number of domestic violence calls.
The Capella Centre works collaboratively with local RCMP, to help victims of domestic violence. The FVL works out of the St. Paul detachment, providing risk assessments, ongoing safety planning, advocacy, and even liaising with the Crown Prosecutors when victims of domestic violence are required to appear in court.
This support of the FVL has proven to be extremely valuable for victims, RCMP members and the Crown, says Cotton.
"Having an outreach worker that specializes in domestic violence and has a full understanding of the complexities and far reaching implications has proven to be invaluable."
Amy, who has asked not to have her full name published, is the Family Violence Liaison (FVL). She agrees that there has undoubtedly been an increase in referrals coming her way. When the pandemic began, there were more verbal incidents and arguments. But, as the situation continued and people were forced to stay home longer, the increase in referrals included more violent incidents.
St. Paul RCMP have confirmed the increase in domestic violence locally on their end also. Statistics are broken into two categories: provincial and municipal, explains Sgt. David Graham. The municipal side includes the Town of St. Paul, while the provincial side takes in the County of St. Paul, Saddle Lake Cree Nation and Whitefish (Goodfish) Lake First Nation.
On the municipal side, RCMP saw an increase in what it defines as "family violence" from January to August, when comparing the first part of last year to the same period of 2020.
"Last year, we had 106 occurrences, and this year we are at 137," says Graham. There have been charges laid in 43 of those files, and no charges in 96 of them.
On the provincial side, there was also an increase noted over the same period.
"Last year, we had 185 occurrences, and this year we are at 246," says Graham. There have been charges laid in 113 of those files and no charges in 141 of them.
Graham says the RCMP defines family violence as any kind of disharmony between partners or ex-partners. "For example, if a current couple or ex-couple had an argument, we would still score this as family violence even though there was no crime committed," he explains.
According to statistics from the Capella Centre, the FVL program has received 85 more referrals between March and August when comparing 2019 to 2020.
Referrals to the FVL are received mainly from the RCMP members. But, there are also referrals from the shelter, the Crown prosecutors, Victim Services and other community agencies.
"There is definitely a spike in the number of referrals received, which lines up with trends experienced across the province with increases in the number of domestic violence calls to the police, and the increase in severity of domestic violence," says Cotton.
While many of the partnerships that exist to support women and children who experience domestic violence were established well before the pandemic began, the challenges throughout the past six months have highlighted why these collaborations really are so important.
Capella Centre
"COVID-19 has significantly impacted all operational aspects of women’s shelters in Alberta, in Canada, and around the world. Women’s shelters were declared an essential service by the (Government of Alberta) early in March," says Cotton.
To help mitigate risk over the past few months, the Capella Centre hired extra staff to ensure enhanced cleaning and sanitizing is consistently done, PPE is available for staff and clients, consistent screening for symptoms is carried out, and physical distancing in the shelter is in place - ensuring that clients who seek services are truly safe.
"Women’s shelters remain the safest place for women and children fleeing domestic violence. During a pandemic, stay at home health orders are not always the best option for those who don’t have a safe home to stay," says Cotton. "Women need to know that women’s shelters are safe, and that the safety of all individuals accessing our services are our main concern."
Those involved with the Capella Centre encourage people to reach out if they know of someone experiencing domestic violence, or if they are experiencing it themselves. A 24-hour support line can be accessed by calling 1-800-263-3045. The women's shelter can also be reached by text message at 780-227-6272.
