Peterborough-area survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault will share their experiences during an event next week hosted by the Peterborough Domestic Abuse Network (PDAN).
It Happens Here aims to “pull back the curtain and show how prevalent violence against women is in our community, and the wide-ranging impacts on survivors and their families.”
The event will feature conversations with survivors and representatives from groups working directly with women experiencing domestic abuse, intimate partner violence, sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV) in the region.
The free admission event will be held on Thursday, Dec. 7 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre at 140 Charlotte St. You can register online.
The topics will include barriers facing women-identified people experiencing violence, the physical and psychological impacts of gender-based violence, reporting to police, unique challenges for Indigenous women and families, and resources available in the community.
The event comes as the City of Peterborough on Monday approved a motion to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic.
PDAN reports that in 2022 only six per cent of local survivors of sexual assault in the region reported the assault to police. One in five people experiencing GBV said they called police.
On Thursday morning, the Canadian Women’s Foundation released a new poll that showed that two-thirds of people in Canada know a woman who has faced emotional, physical or sexual assault.
Statistics Canada in 2021 reported that four in 10 women have experienced some form of intimate partner violence in their lifetime. Women were also six times more likely than men to have been sexually assaulted by an intimate partner in their lifetime
The PDAN consists of more than 30 organizations in the city and county that provide services and supports to survivors of gender-based violence. Partner agencies act the event will include the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre (KSAC), YWCA Peterborough Haliburton, Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag Services Circle and the Peterborough Regional Health Centre women’s health sexual assault/domestic violence unit.
This event takes place during 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, as recognizing violence against women is happening here is the first step toward a community-wide response. PDAN members are engaged in wider activism, including delegations to Peterborough city and county councils, based on the recommendations from the Renfrew Inquest, Mass Casualty Commission, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Commission reports.
The PDAN says the event will include audio recordings from survivors and survivors speaking in-person. The audience is asked to not record their voices or take images to help protect their identities.
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