Children need access to trauma counselling, and they're not getting very much. There's no universal program across Canada. I work with children who were at the scene of a domestic homicide, and it's fate or luck, depending on where they were and the follow-up with victim services, whether they get any kind of appropriate counselling. That would be a priority.
To me, if you're a child living with domestic violence, you're at risk—not only to repeat the cycle in the future, but also for serious emotional, behavioural and cognitive problems. Those children should be getting help right away.
I think every community or every region needs to have access to specialized resources for children who are exposed to domestic violence. They're very much at risk. Whether they're infants or teenagers, we know from the research that children are impacted across the different stages of development, and we continue to deny and minimize that. It should be a standard form of what we deal with in health care. Family doctors should be asking that question as part of their regular work with families, and pediatricians should be asking that question. I think we need to build it into an action plan.
We also need awareness. Children are ignored, and it makes me sad to see that in 2022, repeatedly, we still have to raise this issue.