Information for Survivors

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WHERE CAN I GET HELP?

Agencies and organizations that can help are listed on our website under the Get Help Now button and on the Abuse Help Lines page in the front of your Direct West phone book.

Shelters and domestic violence services are free and confidential. Shelters provide more than just residential services—they offer outreach services, support groups, telephone support, referrals, and other services. Women(including transwomen) and their children can access residential services at services in Saskatchewan. Individuals of any gender can access support at domestic violence counselling centres and outreach programs and non–residential services at domestic violence shelters.

Click here to find shelters across Canada.

Click here to view and download the Getting Out Guide and the Safety Planner.

Click here for a Fillable Safety Plan Guide (read online or download).
Click here for a Safety Plan Fillable Worksheet (read online or download).

See this webpage for more about Safety Planning.

For information about legal issues visit http://www.plea.org/.

For information about healthy relationships, check out this resource from the Saskatchewan Prevention Institute.

WHAT IS INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE (IPV)?

Intimate partner violence, also known as domestic violence, can include physical, psychological, emotional, verbal, financial, sexual, and spiritual abuse; excessive jealousy and control; harassment after separation; and murder. Anyone can be a victim of abuse, regardless of ethnic background, age, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, marital, financial or employment status.

Women, girls, and other marginalized genders who are Black, racialized, immigrant, disabled, Indigenous, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, or asexual experience higher rates of abuse and multiple systemic forms of gender-based violence and oppression.

AM I BEING ABUSED?

Please remember that no one has the right to hurt you. You have the right to be free from abuse. You are not at fault and do not cause the abuse.

The following are some of the signs of abuse:

Ignoring or minimizing your feelings
Constantly criticizing, insulting, and calling you names
Humiliating you in public or private
Refusing to help you when you are sick or injured
Controlling all the money
Locking you out of your home
Isolating you from your family, friends, work, and community support
Controlling where you go and what you do
Checking up on you constantly
Blaming you for the abuse that occurs
Playing mind games
Threatening to: hurt you, take your children, harm your family, and hurt you with a weapon
Pushing, shoving, throwing objects at you
Hitting, choking, punching, biting, slapping, kicking you

If any of these are happening to you, consider talking to someone who can help.

Children who witness or are exposed to intimate partner violence are deeply affected by what they see. To read more about the impact on children, click here.

THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE

Gold arrows outline the Cycle of Abuse: Calm, Rising Tension, a Violent Incident, and Reconciliation

RISK FACTORS

A situation is considered to be high risk when any of the following risk factors are present, especially when more than are present:

The victim/survivor has recently left, or is planning to leave, the relationship
There is a history of domestic violence
The level of violence is increasing
The individual who is perpetrating violence has a history of using violence outside the family
The individual who is perpetrating violence displays obsessive behaviour
The perpetrator has stalked the victim
The perpetrator displays jealousy over the victim
There are indications that the perpetrator is depressed
The perpetrator has made threats or attempts of suicide in the past
The perpetrator has threatened to kill the victim
The person who uses violence in the relationship is unemployed
The perpetrator has been increasing their substance use or uses substances excessively
The perpetrator has attempted to isolate the victim from family and friends
The victim has a sense of fear or feels that their partner will harm them