July Issue 105
All Rights Reserved
Did you know that you have a good chance of
shutting down an attack in 10 seconds or less by screaming and fighting back?
Trust your intuition – even if you cannot
prove it right, it is NEVER wrong.
Talk about strange or disconcerting events
or people that you come across – it is likely that others have noticed
something strange too. Have conversations and ensure that colleagues and peers
are aware of incidents that have occurred in proximity. Don’t dismiss your
intuition.
An attacker is looking for someone that
looks like a victim… keep your head up, make eye contact, look around, and walk
with confidence. An attacker is more likely to avoid you if they see you as
aware and in control
As many as 75% of assaults are pre-planned
by the assailant.
40% of children will become a victim of
some kind of assault by the time they are in grade school.
In about 80% of assaults that occur, the
offender is known to the victim.
Make a Personal Safety Plan – practice and
rehearse it in your mind so that it becomes solid and permanent. We are always
better prepared to act and react if we have a plan. Think of it in the same way
that schools and corporations have fire drills.
Only about 6% or sexual assaults are
reported to the police.
25% of women in North America will be
sexually assaulted in their lifetime.
It may be impossible to a prevent sexual
assault, much the same way that we may not be able to prevent a car accident. But
we can be prepared by practicing the skills to protect ourselves in the event
that either one does occur. Don’t text while driving, don’t text while walking
through a parking lot.
It is important to teach children the
proper names of their body parts. There will be no confusion if a child tells
an adult that someone touched their penis; that adult will pay attention. If
the same child talks about his "teapot", it may go unheard or
unnoticed.
Teach children to look for a female when
they are lost or afraid. That does not mean that men are bad or should be
feared by children. Evidence shows that women are more likely to commit to
helping a child until the situation is resolved.
Establish and be prepared to defend your
personal boundaries.
Do not force or shame your child into
hugging or kissing a relative or family friend – if your child recoils or
resists, respect their need for personal boundaries. They are using their
intuition to recognize that they are not feeling safe, for whatever reason!
The effects of sexual assault are far
reaching and can severely impact an individual's emotional stability,
employment, and ability to form and maintain adult relationships. Victims
cannot just “get over it”.
It is not true that victims commonly dress
in a way that increases their chances of being sexual assaulted - assailants
report that they cannot remember what the victim was wearing.
15% of sexual
assault victims are boys under the age of 16.
Only 1 – 2% of ‘date rape’ assaults are
reported to the police.
1 in 6 Canadian men will be sexually
assaulted in their lifetime.
Park your car ‘deliberately’, find a stall
near a building entrance, near a light, near a busy street, and know where you
left it.
Walk with your office or car keys in your
hand. Avoid digging in your handbag or pocket for keys – and if needed, they
can make a good weapon.
Every 5 days, a
woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner and the Calgary Police
Service has recently reported a sharp increase in domestic violence calls in
our community. The most recent domestic murder in Calgary was on May 24th and
again on May 31st
1 in 2 women will experience one incident of physical or
sexualized violence.
74% of Albertans report that they personally know at least one woman who has been sexually or physically assaulted.
Source: Statistics Canada, 2016
Calgary Police Services responds to approximately 19,000 domestic violence calls each year. That is 52 per day!!
Source: Calgary Police Service
A 2012 Alberta study has determined that in
every hour of every day, a woman is a victim of some form of violence by an
ex-spouse or ex-partner.
More than 74,000 Albertans have reported
physical or sexual abuse by a spouse or partner in the last five years.
Alberta has the second highest rate of self-reported
spousal violence in the country
Between 2000 and 2010, there were 121 deaths
of intimate partner victims in Alberta.
It is estimated that addressing family violence for women - who have fled an abusive situation - has cost Albertans more than $600 million over the past five years.
Annually, the government of Alberta invests nearly $70 million on crisis services.
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