Provincial and national initiatives, programs and ideas around preventing violence against children are the focus of a two-day stakeholders’ conference in St. John’s involving 150 community partners of the province’s Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI).
“Violence is perpetrated against children in this province and we all have a duty to do what we can to raise awareness of this societal reality and take steps to stop it,” Kathy Dunderdale, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women and lead minister of the VPI, said in a news release.
“Children are among our most vulnerable and impressionable and any act of violence toward a child is unacceptable. It is incumbent on us all to ensure that our children live and grow in nurturing environments free of violence. This year’s conference will explore ways in which we can make this happen.”
The conference will include discussions on cyber stalking, child sexual abuse, the impacts of children witnessing violence and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
This is the fourth year that VPI stakeholders have come together to discuss violence prevention in the province. Previous conferences have focused on increasing community capacity, youth violence and preventing violence against women.
This year’s conference opened this morning with a keynote address from the Joan Burke, Minister of Child, Youth and Family Services, on preventing violence against children in this province.
The VPI is the provincial government’s $12-million strategy to combat violence in this province. It is a multi-departmental, government-community partnership to find long-term solutions to violence against those most at risk in society, including women, children, youth, seniors, persons with disabilities, Aboriginal women and children, and others who are vulnerable to violence because of their ethnicity, sexual orientation or economic status.