DART Strangulation Prevention Campaign raising awareness on danger and health risks

Emily Stewart, Echo Correspondent

After seeing an increase in strangulation events, the Domestic Abuse Resource Team (DART) launched a campaign addressing the associated dangers and health risks.

DART’s strangulation prevention campaign was launched in May to raise awareness throughout Oxford County. The campaign came together after DART met with community partners such as women’s shelters, hospitals, police, and the Children’s Aid Society of Oxford County.

"Throughout the last year or so, we, as community agencies coming together, have seen a rise in strangulation, and it has been really worrying and concerning,” said DART coordinator Sophie Foster.

Strangulation is one of the strongest indicators of future violence causing death, but it is often overlooked and minimized. Awareness materials like posters are displayed in bars and restaurants such as Woodstock’s Charles Dickens Pub and Good Times, washrooms, and other public places. Foster said DART is aiming to reach the 18-to-25-year-old age group in particular.

"We are seeing a rise just in youth in general, whether they're seeing TikTok challenges online, or maybe they're seeing it like in pornography as well, and so it's not necessarily seen in these abusive relationships,” she said. “They could be in what we call consenting relationships as well, where people don't understand how dangerous it is to be strangled or to strangle."

Strangulation happens when external neck pressure restricts blood flow to the brain and can lead to physical risks such as loss of control of bladder or bowels or an anoxic seizure in less than a minute. It only takes between six and nine seconds to become unconscious and minutes to develop brain damage. Internal damage can happen without any physical marks.

“You might feel fine right after, but three days can go by, and you can still have a stroke,” said Foster.

DART held an event on May 4 at the Market Square Theatre, where frontline professionals across Oxford County gathered and discussed responses to strangulation during gender-based violence cases.

DART also has two Can We Talk About That? Podcast episodes on strangulation awareness and prevention with a nurse from St. Joseph’s Health Care’s Regional Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Treatment Centre in London, Ont. The organization is also posting as much as possible on social media throughout the month of May.

"We know that tons of people are online, and so we're hoping that's an accessible way to get it out as well,” Foster said.

To learn more about the campaign online, visit https://dartoxford.ca/strangulation.