In response to a request from the Board of Health, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health will present a report addressing community violence at the board’s November 12 meeting. Community violence is defined as intentional acts of interpersonal violence often committed in public areas by individuals who are not intimately related to the victim. Community violence has physical and mental health impacts on the victim, perpetrator, family, friends, neighbours and the entire city.
Evidence shows that community violence often occurs among young people, particularly young men, and is a health equity issue that disproportionately affects communities facing socioeconomic disadvantage. A review of local data shows that while police-reported community violence decreased between 2009 and 2017, it has increased in recent years. Of note, firearm-related violent crime in Toronto has increased, among youth and adults.
Community violence also places a significant economic burden on society. The cost of violent crime victimization that occurred in Canada in 2009, excluding intimate partner violence, was estimated as at least $12.7 billion. A Toronto-based study, estimated a $1.74 million cost per offender over a 15-year period in criminal justice costs.
Toronto Public Health is addressing this issue affecting our community in ways including:
• examining the root causes of community violence and identifying evidence-based prevention strategies to improve child development outcomes and strengthen families
• providing youth leadership and resiliency programs
• supporting a comprehensive school health strategy that includes mental health promotion
• supporting local community safety groups, and
• providing psychological first aid support following a traumatic community event.
More information about the report is available at http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2019.HL11.1.
Quote:
“Community safety is of primary concern to all of us at Toronto Public Health. Currently, there is limited local data available which prevents us from seeing a complete picture of community violence in Toronto, how it has changed over time, and who is most affected. We are committed to working with our City and community partners to explore ways to address these data gaps to help inform actions for addressing this very complex and devastating issue affecting our community.”
– Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health
Toronto is Canada’s largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of more than 2.9 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world’s most livable cities. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cityoftoronto, on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/cityofto or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/cityofto.