Executive Council
February 10, 2010
February is Violence Prevention Month in
Newfoundland and Labrador
February is Violence Prevention Month in
Newfoundland and Labrador and the Provincial Government is encouraging all
people in the province to learn more about violence and
what they can do to prevent it from happening within
their communities.
“Statistics show that violence towards women
and children continues to be an issue in Newfoundland
and Labrador and it is one that cannot be ignored,” said
the Honourable Kathy Dunderdale, Acting Premier and
Minister Responsible for the Status of Women. “By
promoting awareness of this social problem as part of
Violence Prevention Month, we are allowing this issue to
come to the forefront to be discussed, and this will
hopefully encourage everyone to see what they can do to
combat violence in their communities.”
Violence can be physical, sexual, emotional and
psychological abuse. Statistics show that females tend
to experience the highest rates of violence. Of the
218,000 women over the age of 15 living in
Newfoundland and Labrador, more than 100,000 of them will experience at
least one incident of sexual or physical violence in
their lifetime. Only 10 per cent of the victims will
report these assaults to the police.
The Provincial Government’s Violence Prevention
Initiative (VPI) is a six-year, $12-million strategy to
increase awareness and help eliminate violence in the
province. Since its inception in 2006, government has
been working with community partners to address violence
against society’s most vulnerable populations, including
women, children, youth, seniors, people with
disabilities, Aboriginal women and children, and other
groups who are victims based on race, ethnicity, sexual
orientation and economic status.
As part of the VPI, the Provincial Government
launched its Respect Women campaign last year. The
campaign was designed to raise awareness among men of
their responsibility to teach young boys, by example,
that violence against women in any form is wrong. The
campaign has helped to substantially increase public
awareness of male violence against women in the province
and has enhanced knowledge of the services and resources
available to victims of violence.
Another component of the VPI is the Provincial
Government’s ongoing partnership with the province’s 10
regional co-ordinating committees. These committees help
to enhance awareness and offer regionally-based services
to victims of violence.
We want to encourage every person in
Newfoundland and Labrador to take a strong stand against violence,” said
Acting Premier Dunderdale. “Violence is everybody’s
responsibility. It’s extremely important for us to show
that violence within our communities is something we
will not tolerate.”
For more information on violence prevention,
visit
www.gov.nl.ca/vpi.
Photo #1: The Honourable Kathy Dunderdale, Acting
Premier and Minister Responsible for the Status of
Women, joins with the Provincial Government’s partners
to acknowledge that February is Violence Prevention
Month in Newfoundland and Labrador.
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Media contact:
Tracy Barron
Director of Communications
Department of Natural Resources
709-729-5282, 690-8241
tracybarron@gov.nl.ca
2010 02 10
9:40 a.m.