Thousands of women and children were turned away from Alberta women’s shelters last year, according to a new report from the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters.
On Wednesday, the ACWS — the provincial network organization of domestic violence shelters in Alberta — released its annual report of shelter experiences in the province from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
The data found that shelters received 65,390 calls for support during that time. Of those calls, 25,530 were calls to request admission to a shelter. However, the ACWS said only 16.6 per cent of those calls resulted in the shelter being able to provide admission to the caller.
The ACWS said 11,546 requests for admission were by women and seniors who had to be turned away due to sheltering being at physical capacity. More than 6,200 children would have accompanied these women and seniors, according to the ACWS.
The ACWS said turnaways happen when shelter staff are unable to accommodate people because the shelter is full, the shelter does not have enough staff to support them or because the shelter does not have the resources to meet the complex needs of the people safely.
Many people who are turned away from shelters have limited or no other place to go. A lot of people seeking refuge at a shelter will end up sleeping in cars, on the streets, temporarily living with family or friends, or end up returning to their abuser.
The ACWS said this shows the critical need for safe and affordable housing options in Alberta.
The organization is also calling for appropriate funding for women’s shelters across Alberta.
“There is a staffing crisis in the shelter sector generated by stagnant wages which are substantially below market value, and staff exhaustion, as they have been providing an essential service throughout the pandemic,” the ACWS said in its report released Wednesday.
“Stagnant funding contributes to high turnover and impedes staff recruitment.”
The ACWS said inflation has put extra pressure on shelters, which is coupled with a drop in donations for many ACWS members.
“Currently, shelters in some communities are unfunded and must fundraise all of their operating costs,” the ACWS said. “Shelters need appropriate funding in order to be able to recruit and retain qualified staff. This is essential to their ability to meet the needs of the people who need help.”
Jeremy Nixon, minister of seniors, community and social services, said at a separate news conference about affordable housing Wednesday that he saw the report earlier in the day.
“This is something that’s important to me, it’s important to this government that when people are experiencing domestic violence, that they have somewhere to go,” he said when asked about it by a reporter.
“We are doing and will do everything we can to make sure that individuals fleeing domestic violence have supports, and I am looking into this.”
At the news conference, Nixon announced $55 million over three years so Albertans have more access to affordable housing.
The government said the program is to help public, non-profit and private sectors build more homes for seniors, families, people with low incomes, disabilities and victims of violence.
For people waiting for a place in a shelter, the ACWS said single survivors spent an average of six months on the wait list. Survivors with children spent about a month and a half on a waiting list. The ACWS said the most common factors contributing to waitlists are lack of shelter capacity and lack of an available apartment with the number of bedrooms needed by the survivor due to their family size.
Majority of women and children admitted to emergency shelters were at ‘severe or extreme risk’ of being killed
During the same time frame from April 2021 to March 2022, the ACWS admitted 6,989 people to emergency shelters in Alberta. That’s up slightly from the previous year’s data, which showed Alberta women’s shelters housed 6,233 people between April 2020 and March 2021.
Of the survivors who completed danger assessments in emergency shelters, 72 per cent said they were at severe or extreme risk of being killed by their partner or ex-partner.
Of those who filled out the voluntary assessment, 52 per cent said they believe their partner is capable of killing them, 39 per cent said their partner has threatened to kill them, 38 per cent said their partner forced them to have sex and 35 per cent said their partner strangled them.
ACWS executive director Jan Reimer said the level of danger women are facing is increasing.
“We’ve also seen now for the fourth year in a row a very high number of women who actually believe their partner is capable of killing them. It shows the severe risks women are in and how badly needed spaces in women’s shelters are,” she explained.
That being said, Reimer stressed she wants people to know shelters are there for people when they need them.
“No matter what you may be facing – for those of you who are listening – domestic violence shelters are there to help if you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, intimate partner abuse or violence in the home,” Reimer said.
“Breaking the silence takes bravery. But if there is one thing we know about survivors, it’s that they are brave no matter what stage of the journey they are on.”
Every year, the ACWS compiles and analyzes the data provided by its 39 members that operate more than 50 shelters across the province.
Of the people served by the ACWS, 98.5 per cent are women.
Anyone at risk or experiencing family violence can reach the Family Violence Info Line 24 hours a day at 310-1818.
The Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters also has a map of shelters across the province for anyone needing support.
Additional family violence supports are also available online.
— with files from The Canadian Press.