N.B. government urged to declare gender-based family violence an epidemic

Several agencies are calling on the N.B. government to declare gender-based family violence an epidemic.

The New Brunswick government is being urged to declare gender-based family violence an epidemic.

An open letter to Premier Susan Holt makes the request, signed by White Ribbon Fredericton and Survivors United Against Violence, with the endorsement of 22 other local community agencies.

Nova Scotia’s provincial government declared domestic violence an epidemic in September 2024.

Sarah Sherman, of Survivors United Against Violence, says the designation in New Brunswick is only one part of what’s being requested.

“There needs to be action, and there needs to be money and support behind it, or it doesn’t mean anything,” says Sherman.

The letter calls for New Brunswick to adopt Clare’s Law, which would allow people the right to know if their partner has a legal history of committing domestic violence.

Clare’s Law first began in the United Kingdom and is named after Clare Wood, a 36-year-old mother who was murdered in 2009 by her former domestic partner (who had a record of abusing women).

In New Brunswick, Bill 17: The Disclosure to Protect Against Intimate Partner Violence Act received royal assent in December 2022 but has yet to be implemented.

The New Brunswick Association of Chiefs of Police is one of the 22 agencies supporting the implementation of Clare’s Law.

In Canada, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador have already adopted Clare’s Law.

Between 2009 and 2021, reported cases of intimate partner and family violence in New Brunswick went up by about 40 per cent. In 2023, New Brunswick had Canada’s third highest provincial rate of intimate partner violence, with 449 out of 100,000 people experiencing family violence.

“I fear unless we do things very quickly that things are going to get much worse,” says Sherman.

In a statement Tuesday, the New Brunswick government says it looks forward to collaborating with the agencies in the open letter but didn’t directly acknowledge the designation of gender-based violence being an epidemic.

“In the next couple of months, I will speak with survivors and representatives of organizations dedicated to addressing gender inequality, discrimination, and gender-based violence,” says Chantal Boudreau, minister responsible for women’s equality, in the statement.

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