The province is investing $1.5 million to increase services and supports throughout the province for Aboriginal people who are affected by domestic violence.
The $1.5-million investment will be used over the next two years to provide direct services for Aboriginal women, men and children.
Aboriginal women and children reflect a higher percentage of British Columbians who are affected by domestic violence. In fact, Aboriginal women are nearly three times more likely to be victims of intimate partner violence than non-Aboriginal women.
According to corporal Terry Gillespie, the Burns Lake RCMP responded to 115 reports of domestic violence in the 2014 fiscal year. In 2013, there were 12,359 police-reported victims of intimate partner violence throughout the province. However, it is estimated that only about one in four women ever report their abuse to police.
The province will work with a partnership table of government, non-government and Aboriginal representatives to develop funding criteria, with a focus on increasing services and supports in rural and remote communities.
The B.C. Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres will distribute the confirmed funding – on behalf of the B.C. government – to partner agencies.
“This funding will provide additional supports that Aboriginal people need to feel safe, live free of fear and violence, and to reach their full potential,” said John Rustad, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation.
In addition, the province will provide $400,000 over the next two years to support 37 community groups as they give voice to the issue of stopping violence against Aboriginal women and girls.
These community groups include projects in the Lakes District such as Lake Babine Nation's "Girl Power Hour"; Nee Tahi Buhn Indian Band's "Giving Voice"; and Skin Tyee Nation's "Giving Voice to Our Women."
The Burns Lake RCMP also works to address the issue of domestic violence in the Lakes District by partnering with the Violence Against Women in Relationships Committee. The committee includes representatives from the Ministry of Children and Family Development, Carrier Sekani Family Services, Elizabeth Fry Society and Victim Services.
The funding announcement supports the government’s second- and third-year commitments under the three-year, $5.5-million provincial domestic violence plan which includes improving direct services for Aboriginal children, youth and families in rural and remote communities.