Intimate partner violence calls surge in Greater Sudbury

CTV News

5 hours ago

Calls related to intimate partner violence in Greater Sudbury have increased by 63 per cent since 2023, police reported this week.
Greater Sudbury Police say they are receiving an average of 50 to 65 calls a week related to intimate partner violence, a substantial increase compared to last year.
And statistics show Sudbury police responded to 2,857 IPV calls in 2024, a 38 per cent increase from 2023 and 63 per cent increase compared to 2022.
IPV stats
Statistics show Sudbury police responded to 2,857 IPV calls in 2024, a 38 per cent increase from 2023 and 63 per cent increase compared to 2022. (File)
Police are working with community partners to address IPV and help victims who want to leave abusive relationships.
'We might be informing the community better, so maybe those victims that were hesitant before are now proactive in reporting these incidents to police,' said Det. Sgt. Adam Demers, IPV coordinator for Sudbury police.
Marlene Gorman, executive director of YWCA Sudbury, said she's not surprised that IPV reports are increasing. Gorman said Genevra House gets about 28 calls a week from women leaving abusive partners, and quite often the 32-bed shelter is at capacity.
'Our shelter is full every day,' Gorman said, adding it's disheartening when staff have to turn away women and their children because the shelter is full.
Sudbury IPV
Greater Sudbury Police say they are receiving an average of 50 to 65 calls a week related to intimate partner violence, a substantial increase compared to last year.
(Photo from video)
'We know we're failing women who need us at their most vulnerable time,' she said.
Gorman said it's not more shelters that are needed, it's more affordable housing. There's often an increase in demand for help at this time of year, she said, when the school year ends.
Plan to leave abusive relationships
'Sometimes moms will wait until their children have completed school,' Gorman said.
'Around this time, they're looking at a plan to leave an abusive partner so they're not taking their children out of school and disrupting them in that way.'
There's also often an increase around the holidays or just after the holidays.
In an email the CTV News, Sudbury & Area Victim Services (SAVS) said it has seen an increase in referrals related to family violence and intimate partner violence occurrences.
'We know we're failing women who need us at their most vulnerable time.'
— Marlene Gorman, executive director of YWCA Sudbury
'On average, SAVS is receiving between 20-45 new referrals per week through police, community agency referral or self-referral,' the email said.
SAVS works with victims and survivors of IPV to do safety planning and connect them to services and support.
Demers said police who work with the IPV unit are trauma-informed and victim-based. Part of the process is to continue contact with victims through follow-ups.
'We do have a lot of recidivism, the breaches, the calling, the harassing phone calls,' he said.
'By reaching out to (the victims), we get that information, but we're also getting their feedback on the process as well, which we share with our community partners.'
It's that connection with community partners that Demers said helps victims feel more comfortable about reaching out to the police.
'It creates a bigger team and obviously the team works better if we have those relationships,' he said.
'All those partners working with us -- actually with the community -- maybe takes the edge off going to police.'
He said IPV investigations start with police. From there, police reach out to community partners for assistance. That could be housing, supplies, shelter or safety. Community partners also step up when IPV cases lead to criminal charges.
Another way Sudbury police is addressing the increase in IPV cases is through a one-year pilot project. Starting at the end of June, four police officers will be specifically designated to IPV cases.
In Ontario, 95 communities have declared IPV an epidemic. There continues to be a push to have the province make a similar declaration.