A new Alberta strategy to end gender-based violence helps bring “a painful reality into the open,” Livingstone-Macleod’s MLA told her legislature colleagues last week.
“This is a difficult and uncomfortable topic but it’s one that must be confronted,” said Chelsae Petrovic, speaking in the legislature as the government released the strategy. “Awareness and exposure are two powerful tools we can utilize to help change this reality.”
Statistics Canada estimates that in 2023 there were 385 cases of intimate partner violence for every 100,000 people in Alberta. That works out to about 18,800 cases in a single year, and it places Alberta slightly above the national average.
More than half of Alberta’s women have experienced physical or sexual violence, Petrovic said.
About 30 pages long, Building on our Strengths: Alberta’s 10-year Strategy to End Gender-Based Violence calls for teamwork between government programs, services and departments, community groups, survivors and stakeholders. It identifies men and boys as key partners, and values the inclusion of Indigenous ways of being and knowing to address change.
The province’s 2025 budget puts $19.8-million towards the strategy. Across all services and programming, more than $188-million in spending relates to gender-based violence, a May 13 news release says.
The strategy comes out of public and stakeholder engagement begun in 2023 and a review of existing programs, services, and policy and regulatory frameworks. Albertans shared their perspectives through an online survey, and the process also heard from 500 service providers, survivors, Indigenous leaders, community groups and others.
The government calls the result the most comprehensive strategy of its kind in Canada. It builds on an approach Alberta established four-plus decades ago with the creation of the first Office for the Prevention of Family Violence.
The strategy expands what society now classifies as gender-based violence, going beyond physical attacks in nuclear families. The term covers cyber-bullying, stalking, criminal harassment, hate crimes, human tracking, all forms of family violence and more. The strategy covers a range of often overlapping groups and communities.
Among the higher-risk groups, says the strategy, are women and girls, Indigenous persons, children who witness family violence, newcomers, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ persons, and Albertans living in northern, rural and remote communities.
Men and boys are impacted, too, as victims and as perpetrators. One third of Canadian men experience some form of intimate partner violence in their lifetime. And teen boys, like girls, are vulnerable to bullying and negative online experiences like sextortion.
The document calls for targeted and accessible awareness, prevention, early intervention, and long-term support and resources “when and where survivors need them most,” said Tanya Fir, the status of women minister. It also speaks to supporting bystanders and professionals, she told the legislature.
“Our government is taking a community-based approach to raise awareness among all Albertans and foster a culture of accountability and collective responsibility,” said Fir, the member for Calgary-Peigan.
Petrovic noted that the strategy highlights forms of gender-based violence that are often overlooked, including financial abuse, controlling behaviour, online exploitation and workplace harassment. Lesser-known forms “contribute to significant underreporting and misunderstanding of what gender-based violence truly entails.”
She said that “preventing gender-based violence doesn’t begin in moments of crisis – it begins in our classrooms, our communities and everyday conversations (and) is rooted in long-standing cultural norms and power imbalances. Real prevention means shifting the culture that allows it to exist at all.”
Searle Turton, the minister of children and family services, said that gender-based violence affects everyone in the family unit. His department continues to invest in family resource networks, he said, and the ministry puts $9 million a year into domestic violence prevention programs.
The networks give families the resources and training to “lead healthy and resilient lives,” said Turton, the member for Spruce Grove-Stony Plain.
Get Help Now
Support is available if you or someone you know has experienced — or is experiencing — gender-based violence, including intimate partner violence, physical abuse, sexual violence, sexual exploitation or human trafficking.
Call 9-1-1 if you or someone close to you is in immediate danger.
Call or text 2-1-1 in Alberta to get connected with resources that can help. The 24-7 service is free, confidential and available in more than 170 languages.
If you’re Indigenous, you can call 1-855-242-3310 to access immediate counseling and crisis intervention. The 24-7 service is available anywhere in Canada.
George Lee,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
