Preventing domestic violence
December 6, 2007
U of C’s Faculty of Social Work announces the establishment of The Brenda Strafford Chair in the Prevention of Domestic Violence
Although Alberta has the highest rate of domestic violence in Canada, the province will soon be home to a researcher at the University of Calgary whose mandate is its prevention.
Thanks to a generous $1.5 million endowment from the Brenda Strafford Foundation, a fully-funded research chair in domestic violence prevention is now a reality at the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary. This chair will be one of two in Canada, and the only one in Western Canada.
The announcement of the Brenda Strafford Chair in the Prevention of Domestic Violence comes at a critical time in the province’s history. The Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters reports that since 2006, there has been a 35 percent increase in crisis calls to the province’s 41 women’s shelters.
“The Brenda Strafford Foundation is very pleased to endow this important chair,” said Dr. Barrie Strafford, president and CEO of the foundation. “We envision it will contribute significantly to the body of research on this most devastating social concern. Our ultimate goal is to prevent domestic violence in all its forms.”
The establishment of the Brenda Strafford chair is critical to helping us prevent domestic violence. The chair will conduct world-class research in collaboration with community groups such as the Brenda Strafford Centre, the YWCA, the Prairie Action Foundation and RESOLVE, amongst others, all in an effort to help prevent domestic violence in Alberta.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Barrie Strafford and the Brenda Strafford Foundation for the generous endowment that has made the establishment of this chair possible,” said Dr. Harvey Weingarten, president and vice-chancellor, University of Calgary. “Through the support of our community, we are able to achieve a level of excellence and innovation that would otherwise be unattainable.”
“This important initiative will build hope in the domestic violence response community, and will make a vital – perhaps even life-saving – difference to the lives of countless vulnerable women, children and men,” said Gayla Rogers, dean of the Faculty of Social Work. “We are grateful to the Brenda Strafford Foundation for making this vision a reality.”
She added, “Our faculty already has a national reputation for excellence in family abuse research. This endowment will help us achieve a significant impact in this field – we will become a hub of innovation and solutions as a result of it.”
Community response to the announcement has been overwhelmingly positive to date. “The Calgary Police Service is extremely supportive of this new chair in the prevention of domestic violence,” says Calgary Police Chief Rick Hanson. “Family abuse is everyone’s business, and we encourage you not to ignore it. Many cases of abuse go unreported, and the community as a whole must work together to recognize and prevent the problem.”
BACKGROUNDER
CANADIAN STATISTICS
(from: Greaves, Hankivsky and Kingston-Riechers, 1995)
Partial estimated costs of violence against women in Canada:
• Social services/education: over $2 billion ($2,368,924,297)
• Criminal Justice: over $870 billion ($871,908,583)
• Labor/employment: over $575 billion ($576,764,400)
• Health/medical: over $400 billion ($408,357,042)
• Total selected estimates of costs: well over $4 TRILLION ($4,225,954,322)
PROVINCE OF ALBERTA STATISTICS
(from Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters’ web site, www.acws.ca/news/stats.php)
• Nearly 27,000 women and children sought emergency shelter residency in 2006-07 and were unable to be accommodated (up from nearly 21,000 in the previous fiscal year). Nearly 15,000 of these women and children were turned away from shelters because they were full (up by over 1,500 from the previous fiscal year).
• Alberta shelters received over 100,000 crisis calls, marking a 15 percent increase over the previous fiscal year.
CITY OF CALGARY STATISTIC
(from Calgary Coalition on Domestic Violence’s web site, www.coalitionec.ca)
• The Calgary Police Service receives more than 1,100 domestic reports per month. Children under the age of 18 are present in about half of these incidents.
THE BRENDA STRAFFORD FOUNDATION (WWW.STRAFFORDFOUNDATION.ORG)
The Brenda Strafford Foundation is a registered Canadian charitable organization that was established by Dr. Barrie Strafford in 1975 in memory of his late wife. The guiding principle of the Brenda Strafford Foundation is to cater to humanity and to bring a measure of hope to people whose outlook seems hopeless. Among other worthy initiatives, the foundation funds the Brenda Strafford Centre for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, which opened in Calgary in 1996 to provide long term housing for abused women and their children.
FACULTY OF SOCIAL WORK, UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY (WWW.FSW.UCALGARY.CA)
The Faculty of Social Work has been an innovator in social work research and education for over 40 years, and is currently ranked among the top 10 schools of social work in North America in terms of its research productivity. Its researchers respond to communities’ concerns with practical, collaborative investigations that address societal problems and issues.
The faculty is the only Alberta institution to offer degrees in social work, providing undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs, along with an innovative joint MBA/MSW program and a post-master’s diploma.