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PANSOW Urges Immediate Action: Declare IPV an Epidemic in Newfoundland and Labrador and enact a provincial task force on GBV
April 17, 2026
A groundswell of calls to action urges governments to declare intimate partner violence (IPV) an epidemic, in Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) and across Canada. Survivors know that IPV is happening every day at epidemic-level rates, here at home and nation-wide. The Provincial Action Network of the Status of Women in Newfoundland and Labrador (PANSOW) recognizes that IPV is one of the most prevalent kinds of violence that exists within the larger spectrum of experiences of gender-based violence (GBV). In NL, most people who experience violence are women, and most women experience violence by people known to them.
According to RCMP data, reported instances of IPV have increased in NL by 150%, and an increase of about 51% in 2022. It is noted that 70% of reported IPV incidents involve repeat offenders. We know these numbers reflect only the ones reported- and those experiencing IPV are much higher, given the barriers survivors face in reporting violence. Today we continue to see the urgent need for increased, coordinated, mobilized, and well-funded resources to create systemic change for survivors of GBV and people living at risk of violence.
For many years, PANSOW and other community stakeholders have been calling on the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to form a provincial task force on gender-based violence (GBV). This call to action is the leading request in PANSOW’s 2024 community-driven report on advocacy and action around GBV in Newfoundland and Labrador, Seeds of Change. At the core of this call to action is a shift in power as part of the task force’s structure, in recognition that lived experiences of survivors, their loved ones and experts in service provision and sectoral leadership must guide the objectives and outcomes.
PANSOW echoes the call, what survivors have long known to be true, that IPV is an epidemic in NL and beyond. We call on the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to declare IPV as an epidemic so long as it is in tandem with a commitment to finally enact a survivor-led, well-resourced provincial task force on GBV. This task force must include infrastructure and support to enact system-level change for survivors and those most at risk of violence.
PANSOW consists of the Executive Directors of The Status of Women Councils of Newfoundland and Labrador. PANSOW applies a ‘provincial lens’ to issues of equality and ensures a public voice for women and gender-diverse people from a non-partisan, grassroots, and feminist perspective. PANSOW’s mandate is to advocate to lobby for gender equity.
Contact:
Stacey Hoffe
PANSOW Chair/Mokami Executive Director
stacey@mokamiwomen.ca
