Domestic and sexual violence are on the rise, according to an annual report by the Fredericton Police Force.
The report detailed the force’s crimes rates, statistics related to specific types of crimes, use of special equipment, types of calls and the nature of those calls.
Among them was sexual assaults, rising from 69 in 2019 to 81 the following year.
Intimate partner domestic cases increased from 873 in 2019 to 978 in 2020.
Mental health-related calls increase significantly between 2018 and 2019, almost doubling. It climbed again in 2020 from 619 to 739.
It’s something Lorraine Whalley describes as a disturbing trend.
“Certainly, we also recognize that the pandemic has taken a toll and has impacted those experiencing gender-based violence in particular, so again, the numbers are disturbing,” she said in an interview Friday.
Whellay adds resources remain scarce for people assisting those victimized by sexual or domestic violence. She said requests for counselling more than doubled from 2020 to 2021.
“We’ve had almost double the number of requests for counselling and the same number of counsellors we had last year,” she said.
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Police response and federal funds
No one from the Fredericton Police Force was available for an interview on Friday.
In an email statement, the force said there is an increase in domestic and sexual violence over the past few years.
“Domestic or intimate partner violence is a complicated issue that involves many factors, so it would be inappropriate to draw a singular correlation between the COVID-19 situation and any domestic violence calls,” said police spokesperson Alycia Bartlett.
She said the force now has a full complement of officers, which translates to more boots on the ground to help that unit.
In addition, the federal government announced over $200 million to address gender-based violence and the resources that support victims on Friday.
There will be $2.8 million for eight joint projects to address gender-based violence in British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Yukon.
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