Canada is developing a National Plan of Action to make ¨Canada free of gender-based violence¨ by 2030, consistent with its commitments to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Decisive action is needed now to stem the tide by 2030 of ¨one of the most pervasive, deadly and deep-rooted human rights violations of our time¨! Significant reductions in GBV are achievable, affordable and feasible by acting on the recommendations below.
Broad social policy that implements outstanding recommendations from the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, such as childcare and equal pay for women, will reduce GBV as an important by product.
In addition, we can also now achieve significant reductions in GBV by harnessing the solid violence prevention science that has accumulated in the last fifty years. In 2017, the Ministers responbile for what is now Women and Gender Equality and the Public Health Agency of Canada hosted the World Health Organization to share the cornucopia of proven successes in preventing GBV.
In 2019, Science and Secrets of Ending Violent Crime makes this easily accessible to decision maker with practical explanations of proven programs, the essentials for implementing the science, the compelling case for shifting adequate and sustained investment into prevention, and ways to raise awarenss and foster action. The following provides some simple points, which are explained more carefully in the book.
I. Invest now in national programs that prevent GBV
Sustained and adequate investment in national programs that harness the science are an important first step to achieve significant reductions in GBV. Limited projects for five years as currently funded are not enough to get close to an achievable target like a 50% reduction in GBV by 2030. Here are four examples of what is needed nationally.
- Support parenting to reduce child maltreatment, violent role models and GBV in the home;
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE´s) such as violence in the home and violence against children are scientifically established risk factors for children to be more likely to be violent as an adult. Various programs that help positive parenting and early childhood development have been shown to reduce ACE´s and so violence, including GBV. A program must be intensified, where families are challenged for other reasons such as poverty. These will provide a significant shor term dividend in reducing violence against children and a medium term benefit of less adult violence.
- Reducing tendency for males to use violence;
Programs that change male attitudes to, and control of, violence are central to reducing GBV. The rise in domestic violence calls with COVID creates an urgency to act. Programs in schools, colleges and universities are essential. For instance, wide spread engagement of young people in bystander intervention will reduce dating and other violence against women. Helping boys to grow up to be more respectful for girls such as the 4th R decrease violence by those boys. Giving males more control over how they act on emotions, such as Stop Now and Plan and Becoming a Man, will reduce violence. Reducing toxic masculinity through programs such as ProMundo that tackles the Manbox are promising for violence prevention.
- Use epidemiology of victims of intentional violence presenting to hospitals (Cardiff model);
The Cardiff Model does an epidemiological analysis of victims of intentional violence going to hospital emergency rooms. More victims of sexual and physical violence go to doctors and hospital emergency rooms than to police. Evaluations of the Cardiff model focused on violence between males, but studying the epidemiology of GB victimizations by collecting and analyzing patterns combined with mobilizing local agencies able to tackle the risk factors will prevent all types of violent crime.
- Increase the proportion of police officers that are female
Women may feel unable to get their partner to stop physical and sexual violence of which they are victims. However, international studies suggest that women are empowered to stop violence against them, when they know that they can talk to female police officers. So, increasing the number of female police officers to a target of one in three may be a pre-condition to gendering the police response towards prevention. Ontario citizens who are victims of sexual assault have a right to a responding police officer of the same gender but there has never been a remedy to make the right real.
II Setting Performance Indicators and Measurable Outcomes
We need a plan that identifies actions now that will cut GBV significantly. It is important to measuree what we treasure and set targets such as a reduction by 30% by 2025 and by 50% or better by 2030.
Transformation requires setting goals and using strategic planning to work out how to achieve the goals, as agreed internationally, including in the Sustainable Development Goals to which Canada is committed. The government must agree the indicator to use, such as the rates shown in the Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces.
It is not just outcomes but also measurable indicators that show whether solutions are being implemented. So we need to measure performance such as how many families have received support for their parenting practices? How many school children have past a test showing their knowledge of 4th R? How many university and college students have completed a by-stander intervention course? How many cities have adopted the Cardiff Model? What proportion of police officers are female?
One of the most important indicators is the extent to which investment is adequate and sustained. It is particularly important to define adequate, as governments in North America tend to wrongly equate one small pilot project with a universal program. Also budgetting is often done by agreeing a small percentage increase for the status quo. This has led to more funding for reaction, such as policing where escalating expenditures now crowd out eearly intervention and prevention. One remedy is to fix investment in prevention as 0% of what is being spent on responding with police, hospital, housing and victim services.
III. Transform Policy from More Reaction to Effective Prevention
The shift will require an irreversible change in the discourse so that politicians, media and Canadians talk firsta about prevention and particularly avoid confusing tertiary prevention such as the all-important support for victims after victimization with earñu prevention that achieves bigger returns on investment and measurable reductions before victimization takes place.
Decisive action is needed now to promote this shift by investing now to:
- raise awareness of the proven solutions, including support for the civil society organizations that promote the case for prevention;
- educate and train the human capacity to implement prevention; and
- support for civil society to multiply actions that reduce GBV.
Prevention is better than cure which is the quintessential Canadian approach to problems. Two out of three Canadians believe that investing in prevention and education rather than more police, lawyers and prisons is a better way to cope with violent crime.
