The St. John’s Status of Women’s Council has released some startling statistics as it relates to gender-based violence in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The organization recently surveyed nearly 2,000 people as part of its Domestic Violence at Work (DV@WorkNL) research.
That research found that this province’s rate of domestic violence is much higher than the national average.
Fifty-four per cent of respondents in this province said they have experienced domestic violence, whereas 34 per cent of respondents in a similar pan-Canadian study by the Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children, and the Canadian Labour Congress experienced such acts.
Eighty-five per cent said at home violence continued into their workplaces, with 93 per cent saying the violence negatively affected their work performance and 47 per cent admitted to taking time off work because of it.
To coincide with the release of the data, the St. John’s Status of Women Council is renewing their calls for an all-party, interdepartmental task force on gender-based violence. They say only a task force will bring the budget, staffing, strong terms of reference, and ministerial accountability needed to make change happen.