Family Violence Prevention Month marked in Grande Prairie with series of events

The month started with a proclamation from the City of Grande Prairie Mayor Jackie Clayton, County of Grande Prairie Reeve Leanne Beaupre, and Grande Prairie MLA Tracy Allard.

Watson says the Walk with Impact Online Contest is available over the month, where participants can scan a QR code and take part in a variety of questions about family violence.

“People can have a chance to win tickets to an (Edmonton) Oil Kings hockey game on December 17 as well as three other prizes for $100 downtown association gift cards.”

On November 12, Watson says they will also be attending the Grande Prairie Storm home game, as IMPACT GP will be receiving 25 per cent of the total raffle pot at the game, which is half of their share of the proceeds from their 50/50.

Citizens are also encouraged to wear purple and post on social media on November 23 for the #GoPurple social media event.

“Post your selfies or group pictures with #GoPurpleGP and you can be entered to win a $25 gift card to Tim Hortons,” added Watson.

Watson says IMPACT Grande Prairie is also engaged in a couple of projects on the provincial level discussing strategies around primary prevention of domestic and sexual violence.

She adds the Data-to-Action project collects real-time data on instances of family violence in the Grande Prairie area.

“So we can start getting a better picture of what it looks like in our community and start moving forward with stopping domestic and sexual violence in our area.”

Some of the data shows Alberta having the third-highest rate of self-reported domestic violence among Canadian provinces.

Also among that data, a release from IMPACT shows Grande Prairie to have prevalent domestic and sexual violence reported cases.

From January 1 to September 28, 2021, Grande Prairie and District Victim Services reported 1000 files opened relating to family violence. Of those cases, 674 were domestic violence files, and 326 were family violence files.

Odyssey House saw 3,647 calls related to family violence through their House Crisis line in 2021, and 130 women and 123 children also were reported to have accessed the emergency shelter program between April 1 to March 31 of 2021.

Pace Community Support, Sexual Assault, and Trauma Centre in Grande Prairie provided family support, safe visitation, and youth support services to 125 children and 116 parents.

While the Caribou Child and Youth Centre supported 180 new child victims of abuse and their non-offending caregivers as well as continued support to 300 individuals with ongoing files.

The John Howard Society offers treatment programs for both men and women who have used abuse in intimate relationships, with 157 individuals referred to the program, 41 who went into treatment, with 56 per cent completing the program.

Grande Prairie RCMP reported 2402 calls for service in 2020, with 187 files for sexually-based offenses.

Anyone experiencing family violence in the Grande Prairie area, can contact the services listed below.

Odyssey House – main office 780-538-1332, 24-Hour Crisis Line 780-532-2672
Grande Prairie and District Victim Services – 780-830-5755
PACE – 780-539-6692
The Caribou Child and Youth Centre – 780-814-7223
John Howard Society of Grande Prairie – 780-532-0373
Grande Prairie RCMP – 780-830-5700
Family Violence Info Line – 310-1818
Alberta’s One Line for Sexual Violence – 1-866-403-800

IMPACT if you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, call 911.

by Abby Zieverink

Family Violence Prevention Month marked in Grande Prairie with series of events

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