I have lived in Huntsville and the surrounding area for over 30 years and have met the most wonderful, warm and generous people. We are hard working, welcoming to visitors, supportive of our families and fiercely proud of our community. Yet one thing about my community just does not make sense to me ­– why on earth do we tolerate violence against women? The personal and financial costs are immense: lives are lost and broken, homes and jobs are lost, children are traumatized, their education and capacity to learn is undermined and communities are devastated. Yet we do relatively little to prevent violence. Half of Canadian women (51 per cent) over the age of 16 have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence. If this rate is applied to Muskoka, almost 15,000 of all women over the age of 16 have personally experienced violence. Anyone can be involved in an abusive relationship.