Cathy Dobson/The Independent

A leading expert in gender-based violence says distance and isolation in rural areas make confronting intimate partner violence more difficult.

That from Pamela Cross, a lawyer who has advocated for victims of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and frontline workers for more than three decades.

Cross, who has an extensive knowledge about the challenges for women in rural areas will speak Thursday at the Sarnia Library auditorium on Christina Street.

She testified twice at the inquest into the 2015 triple femicide of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Nathalie Warmerdam in Renfrew County and works tirelessly to raise awareness and strengthen laws around IPV. Cross has also written a newly-released book called “And Sometimes They Kill You: Confronting the Epidemic of Intimate Partner Violence.”

“One chapter addresses intimate partner violence in a rural context, the challenges posed by distance and isolation, the lack of public transportation and law enforcement that is often far away,” she said.
Her book also examines the outcomes of inquests related to IPV, including Renfrew County as well as the Nova Scotia mass casualty inquiry.

It’s very concerning that the isolation of the pandemic increased IPV around the world and numbers haven’t declined since, she said.

The most recent stats show that 62 women were killed by men in Ontario between Nov. 2023 and Nov. 2024. Thirty-eight of those were intimate partner violence.

Sarnia-Lambton’s Co-ordinating Committee on Violence Against Women invited Cross to speak in Sarnia as part of the 16 days of activism leading up to the annual vigil marking the anniversary of the Dec. 6 massacre of women at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal.

“We all need to be watching for every kind of abuse, whether it’s financial, psychological, verbal, physical, spiritual, sexual or neglect,” said the committee’s Tracy Rogers.

“People need to remember that neglect is also a form of abuse.”

This year, the local committee introduced a program called Rural Roots aimed at giving neighbours more information about what to do to help in the less populated areas of Lambton County.

“There are specific challenges in rural areas,”said Rogers. “Rural residents tend to have guns in the home. Transportation is often a problem as is spotty cell service. A slower police response is also concerning because it often takes police longer to answer a rural call.”

Rogers urged everyone to stop buying into outdated beliefs that what goes on behind closed doors is not your business. Making a call to the authorities or reaching out to a neighbour can make all the difference, said Rogers.

Cross said she will be speaking about key challenges in reducing IPV. There is a hopeful theme, she said. “Hope that, despite the entrenched nature of intimate partner violence, when we make the decision to get involved and find ways to act individually and collectively, we can and do make a difference.”

Cross’ free presentation and book launch is Thursday. Friday there is a a candlelight vigil for the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women at 5 pm at the Centre, 145 Christina St. North.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Sarnia police recorded 1,302 domestic occurrences so far this year while Lambton County reported 594 incidents of domestic violence between April and December 2023, and 50 incidents of sexual violence;
• The Women’s Interval Home reported a 3.29 per cent increase in crisis calls last year.

Source: Co-ordinating Committee on Violence Against Women Sarnia/Lambton.