A Dramatic Increase in Violence Investigations Are Rising In Niagara - Why?

• There's been a shocking 57.8% jump in intimate partner violence investigations in Niagara in two years. Jennifer Guathier, executive director of Birchway women's shelter talks about why there has been such a dramatic increase. She says part is the extra number of officers added to the domestic violence unit.

Birchway Niagara - https://birchway.ca/

Transcript

Shocking New Niagara Police Numbers

SPEAKER_01 0:01

We've had some really shocking numbers released this week by Niagara Regional Police about the number of domestic violence, personal, intimate personal violence investigations and charges that have been laid over the last couple of years. And Jennifer Gautier, who is the executive director of Birchway, Niagara, which is a women's shelter, is on the show today to talk about these numbers and try and put some clarity on why this is happening. Jennifer, the numbers that were released by Niagara Regional Police show that investigations increased from 1,149 in 2023 to 1,814 in 2025. So just in two years, that's a 57.8% increase. Jennifer, the number of investigations in which charges were laid increased from 803 to 913. But the number of investigations where no charges were laid, and I know these are a lot of numbers for people to mix around in their minds, but they soared to 901 from just 300 and around 350, so 160% increase. Can you talk to me a bit about why there's been the increase, the dramatic increase in the number of investigations?

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Sure. So I think

Why Reports Rise And Charges Lag

SPEAKER_00 1:33

that there's a number of things that are impacting this number. Um, first, like the police have a duty to charge. So if there is intimate partner violence and they're aware that there is violence, physical violence, they are mandated to press charges and the police are doing that. Um, and that's a mechanism that's been put in place to protect survivors because survivors aren't put in the position of having to make the choice of whether to lay charges or not. But the police in Niagara were fortunate to advocate and receive increased funding for officers for their domestic violence unit, um, so they're able to respond more. I also think that there's been a lot of community education um around intimate partner violence, what constitutes intimate partner violence, and people may be more likely to be reaching out for help, even in situations that are escalating but don't necessarily rise to the level of charges. So there could be verbal abuse, emotional abuse, financial abuse, people are feeling not safe. Um, but it doesn't rise to the level of where the police can intervene and make charges. I I also believe that there has been this steady increase since the pandemic. Um families were under increased stress because of the pandemic. There was a huge surge in femicides and domestic violence. And what kind of happens is that it just kind of builds. People don't often report after the first incident, they wait a number of times, give partners a number of chances, and so we're seeing still the fallout from the pandemic years later, coupled with the fact that there is, you know, a huge cost of living crisis that people are experiencing. So whenever we see high external stress factors impacting families, we see a surge in intimate partner violence. So it's kind of like the storm of things that are coming together. Um, we don't truly know the number of people that are experiencing intimate partner violence, right? People that is an issue that has been in silence for years. People have seen it as a family issue, not a societal issue. And so I think we're starting to get a better picture of what's really going on in our communities and in families and what women and children are experiencing in terms of abuse in their homes.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Yeah, I wondered about the um the it makes total sense that there's sort of a a lagging period happening from COVID because we do know that um in the pandemic, often the partner, um, generally the male, uh, was at home and hadn't normally been at home. So there may have been more incidents of some sort of um threatening behavior, but it also was way more difficult to win for women to go to the Birchway website and connect with you, um, and as well as Gillian's place in St. Catharines. Yeah. Both of the both of you and Gillian's place have had to turn some women away over the last couple of years.

Shelter Demand And Turning Calls Away

SPEAKER_01 4:50

And uh you have a 45-bell bed shelter, and they're increasing their size of their shelter. How many women have you had to turn away?

SPEAKER_00 5:01

So in in the past year, it's it was just over 400 phone calls for service where women reached out for support and we were unable to provide them that safe shelter bed. Um we serviced more women and children than ever within our shelters last year. So we had uh 222 women and 139 children go through our 45-bed shelter last year, but we still can't meet the needs of the community. Um, and I don't think we can ever add enough shelter beds in order to address that. And that's why I think it's so important that we're investing in downstream prevention efforts, um, support for families. But when people do call our shelters, both Birchway or Jillian's place, and if we're not able to provide them a safe bed, we'll look to other regions for support, we'll try and do safety planning with them and get them into a homeless shelter or stay with family and friends until we can get them in. But we we don't leave women and children at risk, you know, or we access victim services support as well.

Breaking The Family Cycle Of Violence

SPEAKER_01 6:12

When you say downstream, uh what what do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_00 6:16

So individuals who experience trauma and abuse as youth youth or exposed to domestic violence, whether that's a male or female, are more likely to use violence as a relationship as a tactic in a relationship later in life, and or to enter into an intimate partner relationship where abuse is present. And so I think that there needs to be interventions in terms of education, um, supports for for men, supports for male youth have bit been exposed to violence, learning about healthy relationships, how to manage their emotions, all of these things that maybe people aren't being equipped with, or they're learning is normal in relationships, and that's just how it is. Um, just really breaking that cycle of violence. So we always talk about the cycle of violence in a relationship, but there's also this cycle of violence within families. And unfortunately, um at all the shelters, what we see is you know, moms in shelter, and then 15, 20 years later, we're seeing the children in shelter because they're also being victimized, and so there needs to be an intervention to prevent that cycle from continuing.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

So I think there's probably two things you're talking about there. One is if it's a uh young female in the family, they may learn that that kind of behavior and that kind of whether it's physical or it's verbal or or financial, whatever it is, that that kind of behavior is okay because that's what they grew up with. And then on the other side, there are the children who, and we know what learned experience is, that's how they learn to behave. And if it's violence, they learned how to behave in violence. And it's hard to understand sometimes because sometimes that the violence that they grow up with in a home is against them, it's against the kids. It's not only against, you know, mom or mom against dad, it's against the kids. And so it's kind of hard to wrap your mind around how a child who grows up in that violent situation would then create a violent situation as an adult in their home.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Yeah, and so trauma acts in mysterious ways, right? And so we don't fully understand. But again, it's learned a lot of learned behavior, right? And so that's not saying that all people that grow up in abusive homes end up end up being abusive, and and that is absolutely not true, you know, but they're just a higher likelihood of that occurring.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Yeah, yeah. One of the other things that uh that you had talked about over the last couple of days is that there has been, so again, if we go back to this whole, why are there more investigations, but quite a uh, you know, fewer number of actual um charges laid. And some of that has to do with the person who is in the situation, the the in who's the subject of the violence not wanting to go ahead and press charges, um, whether it's from fear of what might happen or you know, fear of where do they go? All there's all sorts of reasons that somebody might think that way.

Strangulation Risk And Escalation Warning Signs

SPEAKER_01 9:46

But you've noticed that there is an increase in more violent types of um situations, and strangulation was one of the ones you you mentioned. Why is that happening?

SPEAKER_00 10:01

I think the situations are escalating, right? And so often abuse starts off with verbal abuse, social isolation, power and control, and it escalates over time. So again, it's the fallout of the pandemic. Um, strangulation is something that we're seeing um at both our shelters. Jillian's place has shared the same thing. So we're worried about things like um like brain trauma, brain injury, um, yeah, and the next step is often like uh is is lethality, right? Is the capacity to take someone's life. And so uh we are really worried about the women and and children in our community and um are doing everything we can to make sure that they have the information they need to stay to stay safe.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Do you have any idea um on how many people living in in uh facing intimate partner violence are killed?

SPEAKER_00 11:04

So the stats for this year um so far since November 2023, I believe 13 women in Ontario have been murdered by their um in an intimate partner relationship or familial relationship. But that number has is usually in an annual period well over 50 in Ontario alone. And so that that's significant. We've we've seen a few here in Niagara already this year, right? 19-year-old in St. Catharines, um, an individual in in Welland um by by her son. Um many individuals are experiencing um violence uh uh from a family member, and so the risk is real.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Yeah,

Naming Femicide And Coercive Control

SPEAKER_01 11:46

and I want to make clear that um, and and you used the word femicide at the beginning of the interview. We are talking about femicide here, and I think people are getting more in tuned with um the term femicide, but we often talk about uh a murder as a homicide, which is obviously male. Um and it is time that we started referring to the deaths of women as femicide. I think that that brings home a little bit more the the type of aggression um that may lead to death uh for for women, because otherwise it's sort of I don't know if this is gonna sound correct, but it throws everything into the general pot of violence. And violence against women and femicide are are too different, are are very different from other types of violence. I mean, some of them are the same, obviously, but the type of violence against women it is different.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

And um the deaths and the It's all it's often person, it's often personal and by the person they're closest to. And so it's it's someone they know, and and a homicide lumps it into to murders that you know are by by violent crimes, by like drug trafficking, any sort of criminal activity, and that's not the same. Um and so also with femicide and the new tort that was just passed by the Supreme Court, you know, it it recognizes that women are experiencing um more trauma than just the physical violence, right? There's the coercive control, there's the isolation, the ability to not access a job. They suffer much more um than just the physical act of violence when they're in a violence in the when they're in an abusive relationship.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

I guess that the constant, the the fear is constant, um, as opposed as as opposed to uh, I mean, I guess you'd always be afraid, but as opposed to a situational violent act, you're in that coercive relationship that you know blocks you from having friends, block like you said, blocks you from any access to your own money. You may have a job, but you have to, you know, check in all of the time. And um I think that that's one of the the the hard things that that you know it's easy to wrap your mind around violence. We know what that is, right? But the coercion and the and the um is is something that's different. And

How To Help Without Isolating Them

SPEAKER_01 14:32

how do we help? How do we recognize something like that in a friend or a family member? How can how can we help as a as a society and as individuals?

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Yeah, and I think that the important piece is that just not to be judgmental, um, not to force your opinion on to someone and support them kind of where they're at in terms of thinking about the decision. Um, you know, speaking negatively about someone's partner is often just going to break down their ability to trust you because they may return um to the partner and and and then they're not gonna be able to speak to you anymore or they're gonna try to end that relationship. So just really supporting them where they're at, helping them make decisions, providing them information um and and where they could access information. If you have any uh friends that you feel is experiencing abuse or at risk, you're always welcome to call either of the shelter crisis lines here in Niagara to get out information on how to do safety planning or how to effectively support them in their specific situation. But I think I think the the key is you know, being that listening ear, being a good friend, staying close, supporting their decisions, but providing information um so that they can make the right choice. So the last thing you want to do is further isolate them.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

I was just I was that's what I was just gonna say. If you if you disapprove of them going back and um and it becomes uh then it becomes total isolation. They have nowhere to turn to and they're not going to trust anyone.

What Shelter Support Really Looks Like

SPEAKER_01 16:13

What happens in the shelter once someone is there? And and and children, because it's not just the woman, the mother or the cup who comes in, the the children come.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Yep. Sure, the the the women and children that come into our shelter are some of the most brave women I've ever met in my lifetime. They often enter into the shelter with the clothes on their back. Um, no access to a home, no car, they've left everything behind to make the decision to keep them and their children safe. Um, but when they come into the shelter, we make sure they have everything they need. So we have clothes, we have toys, we have care products, like we make sure that every need is met. Um, they would be provided a safe shelter bed, they have access to foods that they can make their own meals to support their family. Um, and then we work with them to do, you know, safety planning, any pro try and find them safe and affordable housing so their family can move on. We provide counseling. Um, we really try to do everything we can to make it make it so that they're successful when they transition back into a community um and and be safe in their own home.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

They stay in the shelter though until they have a safe place to go.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Yes, we work with women until they have um a safe place to go, yes.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Niagara Regional Police have really, really increased their um division uh for domestic violence. And in one sort of thinking they have is that the the numbers now of investigations and of charges have increased in part because of the number of officers who are now part of the domestic violence unit, uh, so they are able to investigate more. It it are you has has having this the increase, and I I think it's amazing. The NRP does a lot of really good work when it comes to mental health and training officers, so I think that this is really great. And do you find that are you happy about that? That they're able to find more people, or does it put more pressure on you that you can't meet, or or what happens with yeah?

SPEAKER_00 18:36

We are really happy that the NRP has the increased staffing to be able to support the community, and so they are responding to so many of these calls, and um it does put increased strain on our shelter system, of course, but we're we want to meet that need, you know, we don't want to leave individuals at risk. Um, but many many individuals choose not to access the shelter system either, right? Um, and they they access other resources, and so just because you're intersecting with the police because you experienced abuse doesn't mean that you know you necessarily have to access the shelter system. And often victim services is supporting these individuals and tr helping them transfer to a new safe place because they have the resources or the capacity to do that.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

So it does take some of the load off having that having that unit. Am

Pets As Leverage And Pet Friendly Beds

SPEAKER_01 19:32

I correct in remembering that people can bring their pets?

SPEAKER_00 19:37

Not yet, but it will be under construction, and so we're adding on 15 additional beds at our Niagara Falls site that will be completely pet friendly. Your pets will be able to stay with you. Um, but it pets are largely victimized in abusive relationships as well, and they're also used as a tool of control after an individual has left if they leave the pet behind. It's also an often a barrier for mums leaving with their kids because kids don't want to leave their pets. Um, so if we can reduce any of those barriers and reduce pet abuse as well, then we're we're happy to do that.

SPEAKER_01 20:15

Well, I mean, you know how strong the bond is, like you were saying, the bond and the um the emotional support that you can get from the love of a dog or a cat because it's unconditional. Right? They just want to be with you, they just want to look stare at you with their goofy loving eyes and be petted. A lot of dogs want to always be touching a person. And so I remember when I heard this, I thought that's so fantastic because it is uh something that is is it's hard for people to walk away from a bit, and and especially if you don't know what's going to happen. Okay, Jennifer, thanks for coming on and talking about this. While the numbers were shocking, knowing what is out there now, too, and how you are building your presence and and the number of beds and you and Gillian place working work really well together. Your shelter is in, your main one's in Niagara Falls, I believe.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 21:13

Um that doesn't mean that you can't go from St. Catharines to Niagara Falls, just to be clear, um, it's it's region-wide. And if somebody is looking for some guidance from Birchway, it's easy to reach you. The website

Safe Ways To Reach Help

SPEAKER_01 21:29

is birchway.ca. And you have a website where someone can log in and then exit without leaving any history. So they don't need to be afraid that if they access Birchway, their partner will find out.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

Yeah, absolutely. And if it's not Birchway or Jillian's place and you're in another area, there's a website called sheltersafe.ca where you can find a local shelter in any area that you are across Canada.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

Fantastic. Well, Jennifer, thank you, and congratulations on your book sale. Thank you so much for your annual book sale, and you raised $200,000 selling used books, which is absolutely amazing.

SPEAKER_00 22:15

And um remarkable. We're so grateful to the community for the support and for all the volunteers. It's just such an undertaking, but it will help support, you know, almost four safe shelter beds for an entire year, which is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

Yeah, yeah, which comes at such a uh a fabulous time. Um, well, I'm going to let you go back to work because I know you're busy, but thanks for coming on and talking about this and and clearing up some of the numbers and explaining it so that uh so that we understand. And and I think that a lot of people will um be able to walk away now and say, okay, they understand what's going on.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

Thanks, Janice. Take care, appreciate it so much.

SPEAKER_01 22:53

You can listen to all shows of Life Unscripted on 610 CKTV, your favorite podcast app, or on my website at lifeunscripted.ca.