A troubling rise in domestic assaults over the past few months according to the latest Port Alberni RCMP statistics.
Reported cases of domestic violence doubled from 14 to 28 cases compared to the same second quarter period last year.
Mayor Sharie Minions said she met with local RCMP Inspector Eric Rochette and members of the Alberni Community Womens Services Society to discuss the role of COVID-19 in relationship violence.
“When you lock people down in a sense, and you take away some of their resources because we are trying to defend, this is a natural outcome of that for people who live in dangerous relationships and who don’t have the supports that they normally have day-to-day,” she said. “It’s incredibly concerning.”
Minions says Port Alberni RCMP continue to have an officer dedicated to investigating domestic assaults and relationship violence, and works with ACAWS to assist victims.
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