The issue of violence has caused a lot of ink to flow in recent weeks in Quebec. The recent cries from the heart of school staff demonstrate their great dismay in the face of increasingly frequent incidents of violence. Disturbing data revealed by the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) tells us that interventions related to violence in schools increased from 16 in 2013 to 104 in 2023. Others from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) mention that in 2013 there were 46 incidents linked to violence in schools and that this number increased to 80 in 2023.
As the year is not over, these warning signs cannot be ignored. They even call for action. Recently, the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, chose to focus on funding of $30 million over five years to fight against violence in schools. Although this announcement is noble, investment alone will not be enough to fight against the different forms of violence that are currently rampant there.
The pandemic has exacerbated many social problems, and violence is no exception. We have underestimated the place that the pandemic has given to violence. It has insidiously crept into our common spaces (into our lives), leaving more and more invisible scars on our collective mental and physical health. This is particularly true for our youth, who are emerging from this period damaged.
Remember that in recent years, a frightening number of young people, particularly from black communities, have lost their lives following armed violence in Montreal. Courageous teenage girls also mobilized to denounce the sexual violence experienced within their schools. Not to mention cases of child abuse as well as intra-family, community and social violence, which have multiplied while going unnoticed on a daily basis.
Act early
The first thing I realized by looking more deeply into this issue is that violence is not inevitable. Possible solutions exist when we take the time to understand its ins and outs. This led me to ask myself the following question: what would happen if violence was seen as a public health issue and not just a public safety issue?
I came across the 2018 report from the national director of public health, entitled Violence prevention At Quebec: an individual responsibility and collective, which reveals that in 2016, one in four Quebecers had experienced a first experience of violence before the age of 16. This overwhelming data should have awakened our consciences and made us aware of the need to act. It flew under our collective radar, however.
Beyond the figures and statistics it contains, this report highlights a crucial element: the need to recognize and address violence… as a public health issue! In particular, we emphasize the importance of acting very early on the social aspects that promote violence in order to prevent it rather than just cure it.
I grew up in the public housing projects of Montreal North, one of the most disadvantaged places in the country. I quickly understood that violence was not an isolated concept, but rather the result of multiple injustices. It reflects an environment where social disparities, lack of favorable opportunities and unresolved childhood trauma intertwine to form fertile ground that can encourage an increase in violence. It then takes deep roots, often in response to experiences marked by different forms of social injustice and inequity.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that my childhood neighborhood has a monopoly on violence. Violence is found everywhere in Quebec and it spares no one.
Collective action
When a young person commits a violent act, we should seek to understand what they are trying to communicate to us through this action. Why does he choose to express himself using force rather than his voice? What is going on in his head that makes this choice seem like his only option?
Are the multiple forms of violence not the result of a policy of neglect towards vulnerable communities, if we take into account the data which establish a link between the social determinants of health and exposure to violence? Choosing to treat violence as a public health issue requires moving from a logic of reaction to a logic of prevention. This means allocating more time and resources to better understand the extent of this scourge. That we make the collective choice to find solutions that go beyond the usual framework to offer more adequate support to people who have survived violence of all kinds.
This must inevitably involve improving social services and local care where violence has taken up residence. Nothing replaces a network mobilized in the long term for the recovery of a person, a family and loved ones affected by a violent tragedy. Responding to the consequences of violence should ultimately be a shared responsibility between civil society and political leaders.
Healing is not possible in a system which is itself in distress and where the cracks are such that even the strongest glue could not seal them. The phenomena of trivialization and normalization of violence are quietly conditioning us to become insensitive and detached from this problem, and this worries me greatly.
By failing to act, we are denying ourselves our fundamental right to live in safety and health. Finally, could the rise in violence be a symptom of a sick society? Let’s not forget that nature abhors a vacuum. If we don’t take care of violence, it will take care of us.
It is time to take action and imagine together initiatives focusing on community healing, social rehabilitation and restorative justice. This is how we can create a real social safety net.