Women’s shelters call on Quebec to make safety a priority in upcoming budget

Quebec women’s shelters say the pandemic has made things worse for women facing violence in the home. A new campaign asks: do you see me?

It tells the stories of a woman whose boyfriend threatens to kill her, a teenager abused by her father and a woman in a precarious living situation being taken advantage of by her landlord. They are seeking safety at a shelter, but the problem is that many of Quebec’s 109 shelters are at maximum capacity.

“The network is completely saturated, so we need more space, we need more places, more shelters,” said Manon Monastesse, the director general of Quebec’s federation of women’s shelters.

Last week during his regular COVID-19 update, the premier addressed the recent wave of murders of women in the province. François Legault said there is nothing “manly” about being violent with a woman.

Monday morning, on International Women’s Day, Minister for the Status of Women Isabelle Charest unveiled a $23-million action plan to counter the negative impacts the pandemic has had on women, but Monastesse said that’s not enough. She’s calling for $34 million just for shelters.

“To answer the needs of women and children who are calling us everyday,” she said.

The minister says the government has increased spending on shelters by 30 per cent and has been working to provide places for women in hotels if shelters are full.

“Women are trapped with their violent husband or partner, so we did put some budgets in place to make sure the women’s shelters had the means to address the increase,” said Minister Charest.

However, she admitted more needs to be done.

Opposition MNAs are worried women confined to their homes with abusive partners are unable to seek help.

“In the next months, when we lift the confinement, there will be a lot more calls for help,” said Quebec Solidaire MNA

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Christine Labrie.