ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Georgina McGrath says she still has to sleep some nights with the windows open, the cold air in her lungs a reminder that she’s far away from the man who used to strangle her. On those nights, she said, she can still feel his hands on her neck.

Though the Newfoundland and Labrador woman has been a vocal advocate for survivors of intimate partner violence in the decade since her ex-partner last squeezed her throat, her voice still breaks when she talks about it.