Hamilton is a step away from joining some 40-plus Ontario municipalities that have declared gender-based and intimate partner violence an epidemic.
Councillors unanimously adopted the motion during a committee meeting Monday after a delegation revealed that some 12,000 calls to authorities tied to domestic or intimate partner violence were made in Hamilton last year.
Close to 7,600 calls were made to crisis helplines at local women’s shelters during a similar period of time.
However, of 4,500 needing help, only about 800 were able to access a shelter amid a shortage of beds.
Meanwhile, some 2,000 calls were made to the Sexual Assault Centre Hamilton and Area (SACHA) crisis line last year, an agency that has a six-month wait-list for service.
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“I note this is only the reported reality, the reality that we have had an opportunity to witness,” Woman Abuse Working Group (WAWG) co-chair Jessica Bonilla-Damptey said.
“We know there are many unreported incidents and individuals and families we have not reached.”
WAWG made its first appeal for the declaration during an information session at city hall in July.
Lower city Coun. Nrinder Nann (Ward 3), who helped spearhead the declaration, along with Mayor Andrea Horwath, said it was “embarrassing” to continue to make appeals to the province for support and attention on the issue.
“I’m hopeful that with 40 other municipalities across Ontario … this ongoing advocacy … will lead towards creating sustainable investments to create the foundations of care and support for human recovery and healing against violence in our cities,” Nann said.
In mid-June, Burlington’s council passed a similar motion acknowledging that the city has an intimate partner domestic abuse crisis, citing the region’s 3,503 calls to Halton police last year and some 2,200 calls to its Women’s Shelter Crisis helpline.
The declaration now moves on to a ratification vote at city council Friday.
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