Premier Robert Ghiz was one of the leaders of the Purple Ribbon march in Charlottetown.

Women’s groups on P.E.I. are calling for a special family violence court to address domestic abuse.

Groups held walks Wednesday to remember the victims of domestic violence across the Island. They wore purple ribbons to spread the message that it is time to end such assaults.

Lisa Murphy of the Status of Women said one way to do that is to set up a court that hears only cases of domestic violence.

“For victims of violence, and also for the abuser. It's not just to have people have their day in court and then to have sentences, it's to identify services that the abuser might need — anger management, addiction problems, mental health,” she said.

New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia all have domestic violence courts. Summerside ended a pilot project a year ago, but a permanent court has not been created.

Early intervention important

Trish Cheverie, a Legal Aid lawyer, was part of a committee that developed the pilot. She said early intervention is key.

"Very often there's a window of opportunity there. You've got, perhaps, a perpetrator, you've got an emotional situation where he recognizes he's in danger of losing his family. He's prepared to acknowledge the problem and take steps to deal with it,” she said.

The last two P.E.I. governments have supported the court idea, but it languishes.

Premier Robert Ghiz said money is the main cause of the delay.

"Obviously, funding is an issue. We want to do more, but obviously, there's a limited amount of dollars. Hopefully, we'll get there some day,” he said.

Lisa Murphy, PEI Status of Women (CBC)

The project has also been hampered by the difficulties of co-coordinating the justice and health departments.

Murphy said it created red tape that was difficult to cut.

"It's hard, because it's involved, it's cross-departmental, it's cross-jurisdiction. It's a difficult issue for people to grasp, but it's important, you know, it's needed. It's necessary,” she said.

Despite the widespread support, the province has no timeline for starting the court.