Agape House Executive Director Pam Hadder.Domestic violence is a serious issue in the world, but also right here in our region. Pam Hadder is the Executive Director for Agape House in Steinbach, she says the month of November is known as Domestic Violence Awareness month in the province of Manitoba. 

Hadder says violence against women stems from gender inequality, and although a lot of progress has been made in terms of roles and rights of women, she says there is still a lot of work to do. “Violence against women is very different than violence against men, and that's where the whole gender factor comes in.”

Hadder says more men lose their lives to violence each year than women in Canada, but typically the violence is not related to them being men, it's related to criminal involvement. She notes more than 80% of the lives of women in our country are taken by their intimate partner.

More than 40,000 people reached out to violence funded agencies such as Agape House in Steinbach because of violence related needs. November 25 is White Ribbon Day, Hadder notes the significance is to call upon men and boys to be a part of the discussion and action to end violence towards women.

“The focus this month has been to raise awareness to our need and the work that we do. Sometimes people will know about a segment of our service and sometimes they aren't aware of the non-residential and public education that we do.”

Hadder adds, The staff of Agape House-Eastman Crisis center are once again hosting an annual vigil in honour of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, December 6. The vigil will begin at 6:30 pm at K.R. Barkman Park in Steinbach and all are welcome. www.agapehouse.ca