Is Intimate Partner Violence Epidemic or Endemic?
By Rubina Chowdhury
Globally, 1 out of 3 women experiences Intimate Partner Violence. Why do major political parties in Canada oppose declaring an IPV epidemic? Because their leaders do not want to increase funds for systematic change. Canada claims to be a progressive social welfare country, but a major issue is being avoided.
The World Health Organization identifies IPV as “a major global public health concern, as it affects millions of people and can result in immediate and long-lasting health, social and economic consequences. IPV impacts people of all genders, ages and socioeconomic statuses. It affects people of all racial, educational, ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds. However, women experience this form of gender-based violence at much higher rates, most often perpetrated by men. IPV can occur in both public and private spaces, as well as online. When children are exposed to IPV, it is considered a form of child maltreatment.”
In November 2025, the Ontario provincial government—specifically, the Progressive Conservative (PC) members of the Standing Committee on Justice—formally recognized intimate partner violence (IPV) as “endemic” rather than an “epidemic”, describing it as “persistent, deeply rooted, and profoundly harmful” requiring long term prevention and gradual change.
Social advocates and opposition members said the turn away from “epidemic” avoids an urgent, crisis-level response that an “epidemic” declaration entails. The pause tactic avoids increased funding and accountability and pre-empts initiatives to remove the rotten roots of oppression in Canada.
What does the data describe?
The coroner’s inquest into the 2015 Renfrew County murders of three women explicitly recommended declaring IPV an “epidemic,” not an “endemic” issue.
Toronto Police published a report in November 2025, examining the decade 2014-2025. It shows the rate is high and it is increasing or steady. In Toronto, the reported cases ranged between 17,200 and 19,300. And yet, funding to vital services such as shelters and transitional housing has been cut. The Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses annual report shows every night 4 women are turned back from shelter doors in Toronto. Many shelters do not even allow homeless women.
The 2025 Intimate Partner Violence Report published in the Ontario Legislature Government cites 356 victims of police-reported intimate partner violence (IPV) per 100,000 population aged 12 and older, a rate relatively unchanged from the previous year. Women are disproportionately affected, with rates 3.5 times higher than men, and they account for over 75% of police-reported victims. Roughly 44% of Canadian women report an experience with IPV. Between 2019 and 2023, 979 people were victims of intimate partner homicide, with 73% (719) of them being women. Every 6 days, 1 woman dies by intimate partner violence in Canada.
Housing and IPV
Houselessness impacts on gender-based violence and intimate partner violence. The Fred Victor Mission using the definitions of GBV and IPV developed by Women and Gender Equality Canada, reported:
“nearly one-third of those experiencing homelessness are women, girls, and gender-diverse people. Yet, housing and support systems continue to overlook their needs, leaving many women and children without safe and stable options. Women’s homelessness in Canada isn’t just about a lack of shelter – it’s a deeply gendered issue, rooted in systemic failures that force women into housing instability and trap them there. Often hidden, this issue results from gender-based violence, economic inequality, and a lack of safe, affordable housing. Many women couch-surf, stay in abusive relationships, or avoid shelters to protect themselves and their children. Their struggle remains unseen, their voices unheard….
A 2020 survey by the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness found that 75 per cent of people experiencing homelessness or housing needs identified themselves as survivors of Gender Based Violence. Other studies show that certain groups of people experience higher degrees of GBV and IPV including Indigenous women, people with disabilities, newcomers, and gender-diverse people.”
Surging Demand vs. Funding Gaps:
Ontario announced funding for shelters with over $26.7 million allocated for victim services and over $75 million for municipal emergency housing. However, the system faces immense strain, with critics urging an $11 billion investment over 10 years to address chronic homelessness. Toronto’s 2026 shelter budget is projected at over $700 million.
Organizations in the GTA report that demand for services has doubled compared to pre-pandemic levels, yet government funding is dropping, with one agency reporting that project-based funding will fall from 35% to only 6% in 2026. Average shelter stays have increased from 80 to 104 days due to a lack of safe, affordable, and transitional housing. Wait times, decreased staffing levels, and operational instability of the non-profits are creating a crisis.
Advocates are calling for 3% annual indexing to address the gap caused by inflation and chronic under-funding, noting that 147,000+ women and children were turned away from shelters in recent years.
Legal and political need to acknowledge epidemic.
Recognizing Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) as an epidemic is critical because it moves the issue from a “private family matter” to a public health crisis.
Another barrier for women, especially for women of colour is social stigma, which is related to the healthcare barrier. Often victims do not feel safe to seek help, like mental health and legal aid. Healthcare providers need urgent training to provide non-judgemental empathetic communication without personal stigma.
Victims also feared being judged by the police and legal system. Police and legal service providers exhibit cultural insensitivity. Police service needs special training to operate with an emphasis on public safety, instead of by intimidating victims. The total police yearly budget in Canada is approximately $22 billion. If vulnerable people across the country keep away from police due to fright, how can tax dollars funding Police services be justified?
Bill C-225, known as Bailey’s Law, received Royal Assent on June 18, 2026. This law strengthens how the justice system responds to intimate partner violence, including greater recognition of patterns of coercive control, the repeated, ongoing behaviours that can trap survivors in abusive relationships long before physical violence escalates. The Criminal Code will be amended to include how seriousness, risk, and history of abuse are considered in bail and sentencing decisions.
For many advocates, this is a significant step toward a system that better recognizes the realities of domestic and intimate partner violence, and responds to patterns of abuse with the seriousness they require. However, Conservatives’ policies – increased police funding and weaponry, more prisons and longer sentences, criminalization of poverty and homelessness – are not the solution. They are certainly not what is badly needed by millions of women and gender diverse people, who regularly experience Intimate Partner Violence or the threat of it.
Conclusion
Capitalism puts profit before people. For that reason, it is the root cause of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Gender-Based Violence (GBV). Capitalist structures create, reproduce, and normalize violence to maintain economic control and exploit labor, particularly women’s unpaid domestic work. The legal and state institutions, often designed under capitalism-serving structures, are criticized for failing to adequately protect victims, or for punishing the victims.
As a revolutionary Marxist party, Socialist Action is profoundly committed to socialist feminism, which demands a new society that is not based on the minority rule of a rich, patriarchal boss class. Socialist Action insists that the declaration of IPV as an epidemic recognizes the crisis in a public way which could trigger specific systemic responses. These include:
1. Full funding for preventive systems for all. Alleviate the stress factors that contribute to high rates of IPV: lack of good housing, shortage of transitional housing, shelter, physical health care, affordable groceries, mental health and legal aid.
2. Fund school-based prevention and provide education about ‘consent’.
3. Provide a support system for survivors and their families, especially women of colour and children.
4. Continuing education, training, developing career paths and opportunities for women/vulnerable people. Reverse the cuts to OSAP.
Provincial maritime governments have already declared IPV an epidemic, as have over 100 municipalities in Ontario. But despite this surge in recognition, which is backed up by overwhelming scientific evidence, the Ontario government continues to resist making such a declaration.
All governments must declare IPV an epidemic and take concrete action for systemic change. Organizations for women’s and gender equality, public health advocates, labour unions and many others are continuing the pressure. The crisis of capitalist society is deepening. The only solution is social justice by means of socialist revolution.