A television program in the 1950s – a show the Flintstones were based on – had Ralph Kramden bullying his wife Alice in almost every episode. The lead actor Jackie Gleason literally rolled his eyes, pumped his fists then promised he’d send Pert Kelton, later played by Audrey Meadows, to the moon with a punch his television wife would never forget in the early sitcom, the Honeymooners.
Although images of brutality with humorous themes would never be accepted in the scripts of comedy shows in 2019, domestic violence, especially against women, has remained prevalent in Canadian society. Canadian women who are seniors aged 65-89 are particularly vulnerable to attacks. Violence against seniors in general went up by four per cent between 2016 and 2017 in this country. Katya Slepian in the Abbotsford News in December 2018 said 11,380 seniors (aged 65 to 89 years old) were abused. Stats Canada figures claim 33 per cent of these attacks originated from a family member. More than half of the abused seniors were women. Slepian noted 32 per cent of these women were mistreated by their husbands.
A report released by Statistics Canada in 2018 said almost one-third of reported violent incidents in Canada in 2017 involved violence with an intimate partner (an horrific number of 95704 incidents). Eight in 10 of these victims of domestic violence were females. Violence committed by an intimate partner accounted for 45 per cent of confrontations in Canada. The report concluded domestic violence was the most common kind of everyday aggression for women in 2017.
A CBC story in May 2018 said Saskatchewan possessed the highest rates of domestic violence in the country. This report also stated all of Saskatchewan’s homicides committed in domestic settings would have to be reviewed. The fact that a description of deaths related to domestic occurrences had to be advocated for in Saskatchewan in the year 2019 is appalling. Although programs like the Honeymooners are now frowned upon, horror stories on domestic violence in Canada and in Saskatchewan haven’t concluded.
In Assiniboia, the nearest refuge for victims of domestic violence can be found through contacting the Moose Jaw Women's Transition Association Incorporated. This association is one of the outreach services funded through the Ministry of Justice. The Moose Jaw Women’s Transition Association can assist women who might need alternative living accommodations to escape situations of violence. The house can be contacted at 306-693-6511. The association will provide support to women, children and families in violent or potentially threatening situations. The transition house in Moose Jaw can also offer education on abuse and information about the services available in the community. This Christmas, this association existing since 1978 and headquartered on 63 Ross Street had planned to put together food hampers for the women they’ve been supporting. The transition house also arranged a holiday breakfast and hoped to give new, unopened toys for the families under their care.
Women might be frightened to leave abusive relationships. They often decide to stay within unhappy bonds, where honeymoons might coexist on rotations with violent periods. Sometimes, women keep rooted within cycles of love and hate because this has become routine. The women might even blame themselves for causing the violence. Whatever the case, leaving situations where an atmosphere of viciousness has become the norm is never easy for anyone, since fear is usually the controlling factor in circumstances of abuse, but love can set them free .
