Putting an end to intimate partner violence

Posted: June 29, 2012 6:00 a.m.

Intimate partner violence happens in rural and northern communities just as in cities, but little is known about how often or how the community responds.

A new study by Mary Hampton of Luther College and a large team of academic and community research partners from the Prairies and Northwest Territories (N.W.T) will help fill in the missing pieces.

“The little Canadian research that exists suggests there is a higher rate of intimate partner violence, spousal homicides and sexual assault in rural and northern communities,” says Hampton. “This is especially relevant to Saskatchewan which is highly rural.”

Data on incidents and available resources will be collected across rural and northern areas of the Prairies and N.W.T., then transferred to a map to allow comparisons. Researchers will interview service providers and justice workers in selected communities so they can develop in-depth profiles of those communities.

Once they have a sense of how the communities are dealing with intimate partner violence, the research team will develop strategies that outline the steps an individual or organization can take when an incident arises.

"I think a lot of people don't know what to do when they know about intimate partner abuse happening in their communities," she says.

This research builds on what Hampton learned from an earlier project on intimate partner violence.  Called The Healing Journey, the research involved following more than 600 women victims of abuse on their journey to recovery. Hampton says "the missing piece" in that research was the rural and northern experience.

The project Rural and Northern Community Response to Intimate Partner Violence is funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) through its Community-University Research Alliance (CURA).