Addressing the surge in intimate partner violence

Domestic violence is shown in this file image.

Waypoint researchers have embarked on a nationwide endeavour to study and share approaches for assessing the risk of intimate partner violence (IPV).

Intimate partner violence has increased since the pandemic and remains a pervasive concern, affecting individuals across society.

Recognizing the urgent need for a unified response strategy, the collaborative initiative led by Waypoint Senior Research Scientist Dr. N. Zoe Hilton hopes to establish a common language for assessing and discussing IPV risks that transcend municipal and provincial police services and other criminal justice stakeholders.

"We plan to create a standardized approach to interpreting IPV risk and test the approach across men, women, and individuals with diverse gender identities," said Hilton, a professor of psychiatry in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto.

Already underway, the Edmonton Police Service, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Saint John Police Force are gathering data on IPV incidents to support the project's objectives.

Experts Dr. Angela Eke of the OPP, Dr. Mary Ann Campbell at the University of New Brunswick, Dr. Sandy Jung from MacEwan University and Dr. Karl Hanson from the Society for the Advancement of Actuarial Risk Need Assessment are spearheading the research. Waypoint's Elke Ham, Dr. Meghan Weissflog and Dr. Soyeon Kim are also involved in the national project.

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To share their research, the team has launched a website presenting their research results and delving into related work on coercive control – an area directly linked to partner violence.

"Studies show that coercive control is related to intimate partner femicide," said Hilton. "If we overlook the danger signs by ignoring coercive control, we could be missing opportunities to save lives.

"Our collaborative efforts with police organizations will focus on equipping police to recognize and respond to non-physical, coercive and controlling behaviours when assessing IPV risk."

This project is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.