CUPE Nova Scotia President Nan McFadgen says Minister Brad Johns should resign from his position after stating publicly that intimate partner violence is not an epidemic in the province.
“Gender-based violence is absolutely an epidemic in Nova Scotia and in Canada at large. It is happening at home, it is happening in public, and it is happening at work,” McFadgen said in response to the minister’s remarks.
According to a recent survey, 48% of women CUPE Nova Scotia members said they’d experienced gender-based violence in their lifetime, and 30% said they’d experienced it at work.
“Combined with the minister’s comments, these statistics show that the epidemic of gender-based violence has become normalized in Nova Scotia; it’s the status quo,” she added. “We need political leaders who will actively challenge this, not reinforce it. No one should have to live under the threat of violence.”
CUPE Nova Scotia represents more than 22,000 public sector workers in Nova Scotia, the majority of whom are women.