A proclamation was made in Saskatoon on Wednesday to help raise awareness about the issues facing victims and survivors of crime.
Victims and Survivors of Crime week was proclaimed at the Saskatoon police station in partnership with Family Service Saskatoon.
The local agency provides programs, services and counselling support to victims of violence.
“This is really important to us and the work that we do. We work with a lot of individuals who have experienced intimate partner violence, interpersonal violence. We work with youth who have been exposed to violence,” Family Service Saskatoon executive director Janine Baumann said.
“Saskatchewan has one of the highest rates of police-reported domestic violence. There are many theories as to why that is, but the most important thing is we want to make sure that we have services for individuals.”
This year’s theme for Victims and Survivors of Crime week is “the power of collaboration.”
“The theme is so important because, in this work, it’s not just one victim who is by themselves. We are more powerful. We can help them in their lives if we can reach out to the entire community to support them and provide the services that they so desperately need,” Baumann said.
“So whether that’s services for those who have experienced the violence or … there is programming available as well for the people who are the perpetrators of that violence so that we can try and stop that cycle of violence.”
WATCH (May 13, 2019): Saskatchewan will offer paid leave to victims of domestic violence
The 14th annual Victims and Survivors of Crime week is taking place across Canada from May 26 to June 1.
This year, the federal government provided $1.3 million for 179 projects in the country to raise awareness nationwide about the services, programs and laws in place to help crime victims and their families.
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