Origin

STOPS to Violence began as a pilot project that was funded through the Family Violence Initiative, Health and Welfare Canada in June 1992. The initial purpose of the project was to encourage community and government to develop an equitable method of sharing responsibility in responding to the issue of “violence in the family.” In the initial stages of the project, a steering committee was developed to research other partnership models, identify gaps in service to women who were victims of violence and to make initial contact with regions/communities in the province.

As a result of the preliminary work by the steering committee, funding was granted until March 1995. This group became the Provincial Partnership Committee on Family Violence. Through a project coordinator, ten regions from around the province were contacted to gain baseline information on the perceived barriers to community and government working together. The feedback and suggestions from these connections provided the group with some clear information on how to proceed. To nurture a partnership of this capacity, many areas had to be examined, discussed, and developed. Defining a vision and purpose for the proposed partnership work and sharing that information with individuals, agencies, and government participants was essential to creating an environment in which those stakeholders would want to participate. It was also clear in the development of this structure, that typical hierarchical organization structures would not provide an environment where participants could have an equitable, safe voice. Time was taken to define the qualities of a partner, the process in which partners would be engaged in and the elements of a partnership. During this time, the informal mandate of the organization was “to do things differently and to build trust”.

In order to do things differently, it was important for all participants to have the freedom to their voice, to engage in consensus decision-making and to freely participate in solution making activities.

In October of 1994, a two day provincial symposium was held in Regina. The symposium invited individuals, agencies, and government partners from around the province who worked directly in, or had a strong interest in the family violence area. The purpose of the symposium was to bring people together from different disciplines to discuss issues of violence in a new way. The symposium focused on encouraging participation in a model that recognized that programs and policies could be developed in partnership with the community.

In April of 1995, the partnership became a provincially funded initiative. The departments of Justice and Health contributed operational funding and the department of Social Services provided in-kind support to the partnership (office space, telephone, mail outs). It was at this time, that a strong relationship between the Partnership and Interdepartmental Committee on Family Violence developed. Community and government partnership continued to advance based on the principle of inclusive participation. Work plans were developed and a presentation to the Provincial Cabinet was made.

In 1998, the organization changed its name from the Provincial Partnership Committee on Family Violence to Saskatchewan Toward Offering Partnership Solutions to Violence or STOPS to Violence.