Saskatchewan leads provinces in rates of intimate partner violence with no end in sight

Brenda Ottenbreit says she spent her marriage walking on eggshells while dealing with her husband's abuse. She is not alone. Saskatchewan is continuing to see a surge in intimate partner violence rates that advocates say are more than double the national average. 

According to a 2022 Statistics Canada report, in 2022 Saskatchewan had the highest provincial rates of police-reported family violence in the country: 730 victims per 100,000 population, and intimate partner violence (IPV) at 732.

"I went from Christmas eve to New Years Day with not a word being said to me. Silent treatment is one of the most insidious forms of punishment," she said.

"I was timed when I went to work. In an abusive relationship like what I was in, it was also coercive control," Ottenbreit, 50, said.

Coercive control is a form of psychological and emotional abuse.

The Lashburn, Sask. resident says while she was in the marriage, her ex-husband had financial control. She wasn't able to pay for basic things herself, including groceries.

"When you lose your autonomy, you lose a bit of yourself every time," she said. "Not being able to pay for feminine products after I had a baby was dehumanizing and humiliating."

She says her husband had a significant debt with the Canada Revenue Agency, which later froze their accounts.

It took Ottenbreit nine year of legal wrangling to get a divorce from her six-year marriage in April 2023.

She said domestic violence training is still not mandatory for sitting judges, but only for newly appointed judges. 

WATCH | Advocates and a survivor ask for change as Sask. domestic violence rates remain worst among provinces: 

In April 2023, Bill C-233 — otherwise known as Keira's Law — was passed, amending the Judges Act to provide for continuing education seminars for judges on matters related to IPV and coercive control.

Ottenbreit said Saskatchewan still has a long way to go with "ignorance" still rampant in the system, and she wants to do something about it.

She is looking for a member of Parliament to help her develop an education bill that would makes training in dealing with interpersonal violence mandatory across Canada "where we learn what's healthy and unhealthy, proper boundaries and what coercive control looks like, so that in 10 to 15 years we see a societal change."