YWCA Toronto – Written Deputation Submission to Toronto Police Service Board regarding Intimate Partner Violence
YWCA Toronto
Written Deputation Submission to Toronto Police Service Board regarding Intimate Partner Violence
November 12, 2024
Good afternoon, my name is Sami Pritchard, and I am the Director of Advocacy and Communications for YWCA Toronto, which is the city’s largest multi-service non-profit organization, serving more than 13,000 people annually– primarily women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals. Our services include programming that supports women, gender-diverse people and their children who have experienced violence. We have supportive and affordable housing, four shelters – two of which are dedicated for those fleeing gender-based violence, a 12-week parenting program for children and their mothers who have been exposed to abuse and our Dec. 6 fund, which offers non-interest bearing loans to women leaving violent homes. We also engage in systemic advocacy efforts. Many of our community members are survivors of violence, and with that in mind, I am here today to speak on the agenda item related to intimate partner violence (IPV) and the reported 1.5% rise in cases from last year.
First, I want to extend our appreciation to the Toronto Police Service for including this item on your agenda today. The rise in reported cases signals a broader societal issue, but we must also remember that this is only the tip of the iceberg. Many cases of intimate partner violence go unreported, and the 1.5% increase is not an indicator of success, but rather a reflection of a small portion of the broader epidemic of gender-based violence that continues to unfold in our city. Notably, this violence disproportionately impacts Indigenous, Black and racialized women, queer and Trans women and those with disabilities and precarious immigration status, communities who we know are less likely to report incidences of violence to the police for a host of reasons, including the history of systemic racism within the criminal justice system, as well as fear that police involvement will cause further harm or even result in the survivor being criminalized.
While law enforcement can be an avenue that people in crisis choose to use, we do not believe that the police should be the primary responders to intimate partner violence. The root causes of IPV are deeply entrenched in societal issues such as gender inequality, systemic violence, and economic oppression, and these require a broader societal response that goes beyond the traditional role of policing. However, for those who do seek police support, it is crucial that the response they receive is not re-traumatizing, criminalizing, or harmful. With this in mind, we are encouraging a police response to intimate partner violence that is trauma-informed, culturally appropriate, and focused on safety, care and dignity for survivors.
Efforts to address this violence cannot simply be tacked on as add-ons to existing systems or programs. True transformation requires a deep, sustained commitment to change within every level of the police service. It demands real, ongoing consultation with the gender-based violence sectors and communities who are most affected by IPV. It also requires a rigorous evaluation framework that measures outcomes.
The Impact of IPV on Our Society
Intimate partner violence does not only affect those who experience it directly. It reverberates through every corner of our society. Children, families, communities, and workplaces all bear the indirect consequences of IPV. Whether it is a child witnessing violence in the home, or a survivor experiencing barriers to economic and social participation, the effects are wide reaching. IPV is a public health issue and a societal epidemic that requires a whole of society response — not simply a law enforcement response. With this in mind, we would like to see consideration given to the expansion of 211, the Toronto Community Crisis Services, to serve as a supplemental response for gender-based violence-related calls, where callers can connect with trauma-informed assistance and referral services immediately.
The Need for Trauma-Informed, Community-Centered Approaches
One of the most critical areas for improvement within the police service is the way IPV cases are approached by officers. YWCA Toronto staff have expressed concerns about gaps within the criminal justice system that disempower women experiencing gendered violence. A lack of trauma-informed approaches to responding to disclosures and incidences of intimate partner violence leads to less reporting. Trauma-informed training is critical, but it cannot end at basic e-learning courses or self-assessments. Evaluating training effectiveness must be assessed from the perspective of those who experience the system — the survivor. We need training with accountability measures that go beyond theoretical knowledge and shift to a deep understanding of the lived realities of survivors and the root causes of this violence.
Survivors of violence often face stigma within legal systems. Education needs to go beyond the reach of those “most” at risk of violence and on to those most at risk of perpetuating it. In particular, there needs to be robust efforts to educate those in positions of power who perpetrate violence in overt and covert ways, including retraumatizing. Officers and all other TPS personal who respond to or answer calls related to IPV must undergo mandatory trauma-informed sexual and GBV response training.
Our staff have also shared that many women who do seek support from police find themselves getting charged when they acknowledge their acts of self-defence. Alternative reporting processes, such as the expansion of the 211 Toronto Community Crisis Service, should be enacted or current systems should be modified to ensure survivors can report incidents of gender-based violence in a way that is safe.
Training must be grounded in real-world scenarios, be experiential in nature, and involve ongoing evaluation to ensure that so long as officers are responding to IPV related calls, they are equipped to respond with empathy, respect, and consideration of the trauma the callers have experienced. We recommend that the Toronto Police Service consult and collaborate with experts in gender-based violence, including those in the community sector, to ensure that any IPV-related training is rigorous and aligned with survivor needs.
The Role of the Police Service and Community Engagement
It is critical that the police service engage directly with the gender-based violence sector to develop a comprehensive, tailored plan that addresses the unique challenges and opportunities specific to law enforcement’s role in IPV prevention and response. This plan should involve an extensive evaluation of existing responses, identifying what is effective, what is not, and where critical gaps remain. It should clarify the role that the police service currently plays in responding to IPV, and — just as importantly — it must define a roadmap for how the police can evolve to meet the needs of survivors and prevent further violence.
Data Collection and Accountability
Meaningful, disaggregated data collection is crucial to understanding the scope of IPV and to measuring the effectiveness of any response and interventions. We urge the Toronto Police Service to ensure that data related to IPV cases — including information on officer response and outcomes — is being collected and analyzed in a way that highlights systemic issues and gaps in service delivery and then goes beyond delivery and evaluation to taking action.
A Call for Action
To conclude, we are heartened by the focus on intimate partner violence in today’s report. There is no denying the crisis at hand. However, we are concerned about the lack of recognition of the scale of this epidemic in our city, and are disappointed by the lack of specific goals, interventions, and concrete ways in which the Toronto Police Service plans to respond to this crisis. We believe TPS has an opportunity to act in partnership with the community by also publicly acknowledging this epidemic and we urge you to adopt a more comprehensive, outcomes-oriented approach — one that is trauma-informed, community-centered, and deeply integrated into the TPS culture.
While we believe that the police should not be the primary responders to intimate partner violence, we must ensure that when women, girls and gender diverse people do seek police response, it is as supportive and effective as possible.
Thank you for your time.
---
Sami Pritchard is the Director of Advocacy and Communications at YWCA Toronto