This Wednesday, at the corner of boulevard de la Cité-des-Jeunes and rue Boileau in Vaudreuil-Dorion, the Sûreté du Québec, along with two partners, held a concerted operation to raise public awareness of intimate partner violence (IPV). The operation took place from 10am to 11am. 

The awareness campaign is being held at the heart of the 12 Days of Activism against Gender Violence campaign, which runs until December 6. 

"Our aim is to hand out a leaflet to motorists explaining what physical violence is. We get several calls a year about domestic violence committed against a victim by a spouse or close friend. It's important to talk about it. To do this, we have teamed up with the Hébergement La Passerelle organization in Vaudreuil-Dorion and teams from the municipal patrol to reach as many motorists as possible," explains Pascal Harvey, Lieutenant in charge of the Sûreté du Québec de Vaudreuil-Est station. 

On hand for the awareness event, Mr. Harvey pointed out that patrol officers from the VaudreuiL-Est station are regularly called out to domestic violence calls. "During a similar operation held in the past, it was shown that calls to shelters in the South district increased as a result. It's proof that we need to talk about it, and that it's getting through to the victims.Our patrol officers are trained to ensure that victims are protected and taken care of quickly when a call comes in," he added.

The lieutenant explained that he had requested the assistance of the municipal patrol because of its role in the field. "The officers assigned to this patrol are often the first to respond to various calls on the territory.It was therefore important for us to have them at our side for this awareness-raising activity," he concluded. 

The citizens we met were very interested and grateful for the opportunity to talk to police officers and other stakeholders about IPV.It also sent a strong message of mobilization against intimate partner violence.