Northern Saskatchewan leads the way when it comes to violent crimes against young women and girls. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

violent crime

Crime against young women, girls highest in northern Saskatchewan: Stats Canada

Jul 16, 2019 | 5:00 PM

Young women and girls in northern Saskatchewan are experiencing the highest rates of violent crimes in all of Canada.

That’s according to recently released police-reported data from Statistics Canada, which shows violent crime rates for those 24 years and younger in the region at 13,886 victims per 100,000 people in 2017. That’s compared to 9,025 victims per 100,000 people in northern Manitoba and both regions are five to six times higher than in their respective southern areas. The report also states northern Saskatchewan and northern Manitoba had consistently higher violent crime rates than the territories for female and male victims of all age groups.

“We have a high-need for clients coming into the shelter, so some of that is kind of reflected in the stats,” Piwapan Women’s Centre Executive Director Karen Sanderson, said. “There are some community agencies coming together to address this and we are currently looking for funding for a position that would help address some of the issues arising with domestic violence and family violence, and trying to get it to the core of healing.”

In 2017, 44 per cent of young female victims of police-reported crime in the North (which includes all three territories and northern zones of provinces) had been victimized by an intimate partner or spouse. Another 20 per cent experienced violence at the hands of a family member, which can include a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin or sibling. Of all cases, 77 per cent of victims are victimized by a male and 44 per cent of those victims are five years younger than their assailant.

Sanderson noted there are several reasons why violent crimes are higher in northern Saskatchewan than anywhere else in the country. Those reasons include a legacy of residential schools, alcoholism, isolation, lack of transportation and low job rates. She added additional programming for youth, men and women could help bring those high rates down.

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“Right now, we are doing presentations on domestic violence, healthy relationships and working with other agencies to set up programming for men,” Sanderson said.

La Ronge RCMP Acting-Staff Sgt. Josh Hallett stated the numbers were surprising in a sense and he stressed domestic violence remains a divisional priority. He said such cases occur frequently when officers are responding to calls in the tri-communities.

“Any time we get a case of domestic violence reported to the detachment one of our first things, along with the investigation, is making a referral to victim services to make sure they get that information they need,” Hallett said. “We are working hard to prevent domestic violence and it really is part of our daily routine as police officers, whether it is responding to these different calls for service or referring victims to the right resources or ensuring the investigations are completed thoroughly and quickly.”

Hallett mentioned there are numerous government agencies, police forces and community members working to address the high rate of violent crimes. He also noted it’s very important for the public to report to police victims of violent crimes, or for victims to report they are involved in domestic violence.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno