One member of Windsor city council is looking to upper levels of government for funding to help the city tackle the pervasive and ongoing issue of intimate partner violence.
At the last meeting of council, Ward 7 councillor Angelo Marignani submitted a council question asking for administration to write a letter to the provincial and federal governments advocating for greater funds for organizations that help women and children that suffer from IPV or gender based violence.
Last summer Windsor, along with a number of county municipalities, declared IPV to be an epidemic.
Just last week, Windsor Police released data which showed that 45 per cent of all assaults locally so far in 2024 are related to cases of IPV.
Marignani wants to see a proactive approach to this epidemic, and in his research he found that Bradford, Mississauga, and the Region of Peel have all received upper level funding to try and deal with IPV.
"I was looking to see if Windsor could do the same. Simply because this is a concern that we have, half of the calls that are going to our police force are intimate partner violence, and we have declared a crisis on this. So we are now taking the actions to address that crisis," he said.
Marignani says they have to do everything they can as a municipality to help the victims of violence, and work with the organizations and groups that do the important work in the community.
That includes place like Hiatus House and the Welcome Centre Shelter, among others.
"At this point what we need to do is ensure that places like Hiatus House has the funding necessary to create the available space to help with this growing concern in our community. That was the intent of the council question, to get that funding and help us expand the services."
He says it's a difficult issue due to the nature of the intimate details related to each case, but from a public safety lens, they have to get as much support as possible to those helping victims.
"This is also a concern of the health board, which I sit on. We can do our part in trying to have the services that are needed in order to help people through this difficult time. That would be things that we can do to help as a city, at a municipal level, to help those grassroots organizations that are actually making a difference in the world today," he said.
City council won't meet again until April 22, after cancelling the meeting originally scheduled for April 8 due to the solar eclipse, and Marignani is hopeful administration will have some sort of update available by that time.