Experts in the prevention of intimate partner violence are telling an Ontario legislative committee studying the issue that one area that is sorely lacking is programs aimed at supporting men.
Katreena Scott, the academic director of the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children at Western University, says there is a gap in services in Ontario for people who are causing harm and want to seek help.
She says there is a smattering of services available, but a clear pathway for help only emerges after a perpetrator is involved in the criminal justice system.
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Lana Wells, an associate professor at the University of Calgary and a domestic violence researcher, says men are predominantly the perpetrators of such violence and a provincial strategy to end it must include supports for them, including mentoring.
Both experts pointed to an Alberta program that offers men counselling, a 24-hour telephone support line, and online resources and toolkits.
The jury in an Ontario coroner's inquest into the deaths of three women killed by the same former partner in Renfrew County recommended establishing a 24-hour hotline for men to prevent acts of intimate partner violence.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2024.
