A primary prevention strategy written for the
Government of Alberta and the IMPACT collective
Winning Against Domestic & Sexual Violence:
Alberta’s Primary Prevention Playbook
We believe, “perpetrators are made, not born.”1 People who perpetrate domestic and sexual violence are created. In families. In schools. In peer groups. In neighbourhoods. In sports. In religious communities. At work. In our institutions. Through media and culture. Through wider inequalities2 and because of the systems of oppression into which we have all been socialized: capitalism, colonialism, heteronormative patriarchy, and white supremacy. If, collectively, we want to stop producing perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence, we must focus our attention on disrupting the pathways to perpetration while changing the cultural and structural conditions that produce, promote, and condone violence, inequality, exclusion, and discrimination.
That is what primary prevention is: changing the cultural and structural conditions that enable perpetrators and drive violence perpetration.3 Moving our efforts to prevent abuse, systemic inequalities, and structural violence, while working towards an Alberta that is equitable, inclusive, and violence-free, is a winning strategy to end domestic and sexual violence.
Proactive change is the focus of this playbook.
Alberta’s primary prevention playbook provides plays and actions for the Government of Alberta and the IMPACT collective that will eliminate drivers of violence including gender inequality, social exclusion and colonization while also increasing protective factors for women, equity-deserving groups and Indigenous Peoples through policy, legislation, and initiatives targeting norms, systems, and behaviour change.
To support this playbook, Shift led the development of 35 primary prevention research reports along with supporting hundreds of meetings and consultations with policy makers, community-based leaders, and experts over three years. Based on the priorities of our collaborators (Government of Alberta and IMPACT collective), we generated 12 action plans and strategies that provide detailed policy and practice recommendations to address the root causes of violence, reduce risk factors, and increase protective factors for women, equity deserving groups and Indigenous Peoples.
Shift also supported a parallel research process in partnership with three Indigenous researchers/leaders and eight Elders and Knowledge Keepers called the Strong Women’s Circle to better understand the root causes of violence against Indigenous peoples and to identify Indigenous-specific policies and recommendations to prevent domestic and sexual violence against Indigenous peoples. Please see the report.
12 PRIMARY PREVENTION ACTION PLANS & STRATEGIES THAT INFORMED THE PLAYBOOK
- Four primary prevention plans that focus on addressing the root causes of violence by advancing gender equality, promoting social inclusion within government policy and community-based organizations, and supporting Indigenous self-determination.
- A comprehensive provincial strategy to engage and mobilize more men and boys because they are overrepresented among perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence and are key to stopping violence before it starts.
- An action plan explaining how the Government of Alberta and the anti-violence sector can contribute to preventing child maltreatment and adverse childhood experiences because these actions will disrupt the intergenerational transmission of violence while ensuring the next generation grows up in safe and empowering environments.
- A case with evidence-based actions that can build the capacity of each Albertan to be an active bystander and challenge the normalization of violence and inequality within their spheres of influence. This approach will send a strong message to perpetrators throughout Alberta that domestic and sexual violence are not acceptable.
- A prevention of sexual violence action plan with targeted strategies to transform our cultures, institutions, laws, policies, and practices that create or enable sexual violence, as it is the only violent crime in Canada that is not declining.4
- A suite of policy recommendations on financial and economic supports to build protective factors for women and equity-deserving groups.
- Specific policy recommendations related to health, food, housing, and climate change as they can become either risk or protective factors for domestic and sexual violence.
- New legislation, policy and programs that specifically address technology-facilitated violence.
- An accountability framework that was designed for the Government of Alberta to help identify outcomes and indicators for monitoring progress on violence prevention and advancing equity and inclusion here in Alberta.
The playbook also provides eight policy priorities that the Government of Alberta can take action today to mitigate the risk factors for perpetration by investing in protective factors for women, equity-deserving groups, and Indigenous Peoples. These eight policy levers include addressing unemployment, increasing income support, reducing poverty, increasing education rates, preventing homelessness, providing adequate health care and supporting Indigenous sovereignty.
While the authors strive to ensure that our research and prevention efforts cause no further harm and contribute to building a just, safe, and equitable society for everyone, we acknowledge that our backgrounds, lived experiences, and knowledge reflect our biases. We hope that others with different lived experiences will build on our efforts and enrich them. Moving forward, we encourage both the IMPACT collective and the Government of Alberta to leverage the research and continue to engage and consult with Indigenous peoples, equity-deserving groups and people with lived experiences to ensure the recommendations reflect their needs and preferences as we advance primary prevention in this province.
We hope this playbook will serve as a catalyst for change as it provides four pragmatic and realistic plays to implement over the next five years that will stop the creation and enabling of perpetrators.
These four plays are:
- Educate ourselves and all Albertans on the root causes and drivers of domestic and sexual violence
- Invest in and grow a primary prevention workforce
- Adopt strategies focused on changing cultures and structures that make violence possible
- Change the game by investing in game changers that eliminate the root causes of violence
Let’s rebuild our province to make equity, inclusion, Indigenous sovereignty, and peace the norm.
This is the next chapter of our work.
WATCH A WEBINAR RECORDING TO LEARN MORE
This recording is from a webinar on October 3, 2023, titled Winning against Domestic and Sexual Violence: Primary Prevention in Action. The purpose of this webinar was to share invaluable resources and insights derived from a 3-year policy collaborative research project to advance primary prevention efforts in Alberta, Canada. The webinar highlighted 5 remarkable Alberta leaders who shared how they have integrated primary prevention research into their practices to advance systems and policy change to stop the perpetration of violence. We firmly believe that the knowledge and resources we’ve generated together can empower others to advance prevention efforts to stop domestic and sexual violence from happening in the first place.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Shift acknowledges that we are located on Treaty 4, Treaty 6, and Treaty 7 territories and the traditional meeting grounds and home for many Indigenous Peoples, including Cree, Saulteaux, Niisitapi (Blackfoot), Métis, and Nakota Sioux, the Siksika, the Piikani (Peigan), the Kainai (Blood), the Tsuut’ina (Sacree), Ktunaxa, Secwépemc, Dene, Mountain Cree, and the Stoney Nakoda First Nations, including Chiniki, Bearpaw, and Wesley First Nations. It is also home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 and Region 4. We respect the Treaties that were made, we acknowledge the harms and mistakes of the past and we dedicate ourselves to move forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.
Initiated by The Brenda Strafford Chair in the Prevention of Domestic Violence
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