Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

I am Jill Young, the CEO of YWCA Lethbridge and District. I'm representing just some of the voices of my community in Lethbridge, Alberta.

The national scope of this crisis is staggering. At least one woman or girl is killed every two and a half days in Canada, most often by a male. Indigenous women and girls are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than other women in Canada. In 2022 alone, 868 children were left without their mothers due to femicide.

Over four in 10 women have endured some form of intimate partner violence in their lifetimes, and nearly one-third of women over the age of 15 report experiencing sexual assault. That means if I look around at the women sitting here today on this committee, at least four of you have experienced some form of intimate partner violence.

These figures are haunting, and we are witnessing their impacts on the ground every day in Lethbridge.

Lethbridge has some of the highest rates of intimate partner violence—which is a form of gender-based violence—in Alberta, with Statistics Canada reporting a rate well above the national average in 2022. Harbour House, the emergency shelter for women and children fleeing violence and the only one in Lethbridge, experienced a 15% increase in crisis calls over the last year alone. We were able to shelter 400 individuals throughout the year, yet due to capacity constraints, 827 individuals were unable to be sheltered. At the current rate, we anticipate that number could be close to 1,000 individuals this year.

Our shelter is also seeing a 31% increase in children needing refuge. These children are escaping traumatic situations only to find limited resources for their recovery and stability.

Lethbridge faces a unique set of challenges that contributes to these elevated rates of intimate partner violence. As a regional hub for southern Alberta, Lethbridge serves a large, diverse and often underserved population, including many rural and indigenous communities with limited access to resources. This influx increases the demand on local services, often stretching our resources to the breaking point. Additionally, socio-economic issues like higher-than-average rates of poverty and addiction in Lethbridge add to the complexity.

Financial instability and substance misuse are well-documented risk factors for intimate partner violence, making it even more challenging to break the cycle of abuse in our community. The economic pressures exacerbated by inflation, lack of affordable housing and limited mental health services further strain the capacity of organizations like ours to address and prevent intimate partner violence effectively.

These local factors echo what we know nationally: Gender-based violence is complex, systemic issue deeply rooted in long-standing gender inequality. Femicide and gender-based violence are not inevitable and they are preventable. As a society, we have the power to prevent these tragedies if we commit to addressing their root causes through a multipronged, coordinated approach.

The national action plan to end gender-based violence can be an invaluable road map, but its success depends on action, collaboration and accountability from leaders at every level of government. The national action plan launched in 2022, yet we still see forms of gender-based violence on the rise, and specifically sexual assault.

This requires the entire system working together, meaning federal, provincial and municipal levels working alongside organizations like ours to ensure these services are comprehensive and accessible. We need sustained investment in emergency shelter capacity, mental health support, trauma-informed services, affordable housing and culturally responsive programs. We cannot address gender-based violence without addressing the economic and social vulnerabilities that put women and children at risk.

We know what the statistics tell us and we know the root causes. We have thousands of hours of research and hundreds of reports on this issue at our fingertips. What we need now is decisive, multi-faceted action that brings together all of us to implement these solutions with urgency, commitment and accountability.

We need to know that the road map we are using leads to a reality where safety, equity and dignity are the standard for all women in Canada.

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