Over one-quarter of violent crime committed in Saskatchewan RCMP jurisdiction is intimate partner violence (IPV), according to RCMP data released on Friday, and victims in a dating relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend overwhelmingly lead those impacted.

Saskatchewan RCMP data from 2024 shows individuals in dating relationships made 60 per cent of reported victims. When combined with those who experienced violence from an ex-boyfriend/girlfriend, violence by a current or former dating partner totalled 81 per cent of IPV victims across RCMP jurisdiction. This compares to 16 per cent of victims who reported violence in a spousal relationship, and two per cent from an ex-spouse.

Amanda Lofstrom, a sexual assault counsellor with the Prince Albert Sexual Assault Centre, said the trends in Prince Albert and Saskatchewan are troubling.

“It’s not surprising one bit. We have the highest domestic homicide rate here in Prince Albert, and we know that it has a very low reporting rate,” Lofstrom said.

“That’s why our office has been advocating for several years to obtain funding to provide IPV services because there isn’t anything that is specialized in counselling here in Prince Albert.

“We felt like that was a significant systemic flaw and hole. We were successful to receive funding and we launched our program just here in March of 25.”

Saskatchewan RCMP crime statistics show dating violence represents an average of 58 per cent of all IPV victims for each of the past five years. It consistently surpasses the spousal violence, which averaged 18 per cent from 2020 to 2024. Violence by an ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend over the past five years accounts for an average of 20 per cent of all IPV victims, while violence by a former spouse made up an average of two per cent of IPV victims across Saskatchewan RCMP jurisdiction from 2020 to 2024.

“It’s a situation that a lot of people don’t talk about,” Lofstrom explained. “It’s very comparable to sexual assault.”

Lofstrom said the biggest concern is how many younger people the centre is seeing.

“The dating violence, we’re seeing that a lot with our young males and females coming through our doors and they think it’s normal for IPV to occur within relationships,” she explained.

“They don’t even know that it’s IPV, so we spend a lot of time providing education to those young people that come through our doors.”

She said that the trend is extremely troubling.

“I’ve been in this industry since 2010 and I’ve just witnessed it escalate throughout my career,” she said.

Incidents of assault topped Saskatchewan RCMP reported intimate partner violence crime types in 2024, with 86 per cent of victims reporting that they had been assaulted. The next most common IPV crime types in 2024 were criminal harassment and uttering threats which made up seven per cent, followed by sexual assaults and other sexual offences which made up five per cent.

About five per cent of victims reported being criminally harassed and four per cent reported they were verbally threatened. These trends are consistent with RCMP statistics over the past five years where assault is the most common IPV offence.

The RCMP noted that Breach of privacy can also be an IPV crime. In 2024, Saskatchewan RCMP officers responded to 53 victims of non-consensual distribution of intimate images crimes involving current or former intimate partners. This number is up 60 per cent from 2023, when RCMP officers investigated reports from 33 victims. According to 2024 Saskatchewan RCMP data, 91 per cent of IPV victims of this crime reported being in a current or former dating relationship with the perpetrator.

In total, Saskatchewan RCMP received 211 reports of this IPV offence type over a five-year period, and 266 since it became a Criminal Code offence in 2018.

She said that this pattern has been more noticeable since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“We will see the distribution of people’s images and we will see people coming in here for counselling because, again, they don’t know that it’s incorrect, but they have shame attached to it,” she explained. “Then they just need support with that, but those crimes more often than not are not being reported to police.”

Loftstrom said that people do not think of image distribution as a crime, which is also problematic.

Loftstrom said that the solution to these trends is more of counselling services, and more people who are properly trained and trauma informed.

“Our police services have done a great job but we need more people to understand how to work with these cycles and how to break the cycles of abuse,” she said.

“We need people to understand that it’s normal that a lot of victims or survivors will go back several times into these relationships and that as service providers, we can’t give up and we can’t judge any of them for that. We have to be there and support them when they’re ready to get out.

“It’s not uncommon to work with people (who) don’t leave right away.”

She said that because of the service area the centre works in there, is a need for more programming

“I would love to see more programs in Prince Albert specifically because we service the North,” she said. “It’s even worse, I would say, in the North, so we need more, more programs here. We only have one counsellor dedicated to IPV here and she’s already swamped, so we’re already advocating for more funding,” she said.

If you or someone you know is experiencing dating violence, call 310-RCMP to report it to police or contact Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or www.saskcrimestoppers.com to share information anonymously. In an emergency, always call 911.

michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca

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