Ontario needs more programs for men to end domestic abuse: experts

Any Ontario strategy to end intimate partner violence must include more programs for men at risk of becoming perpetrators, an area in which the province is currently sorely lacking, experts told a committee Wednesday.

There is a “smattering” of services available, said Katreena Scott, academic director of the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children at Western University, but it is too few and far between.

“The reality in Ontario is that we live, right now, in a system where if there is somebody who is engaging in — or is at risk for — hurtful, abusive or coercive behaviour, it’s very, very difficult to find and get help,” Scott told a legislative committee studying intimate partner violence.

“Really, what has to happen is they need to wait until they’re involved in the criminal justice system.”

A link to the news article can be found here.