Support programs, housing make women safer when fleeing violence, say advocates

For many Metro Vancouver women escaping domestic abuse, the choice is homelessness or returning to their abuser.

As the affordability crisis makes it harder for women to take their children andflee violence, advocates are calling for more housing across B.C.

They want more emergency shelters for women to stay in the first weeks after fleeing abuse, more subsidized housing and stricter rent controls and are calling for all levels of government to bring Vancouver's housing market into line with the wages people are paid in Metro Vancouver.

But beyond housing concerns, advocates are proposing several other waysto make women's lives safer and more affordable after they escape an abusive partner.

Community-based support

Tracy Porteous, who runs the Ending Violence Association of B.C., says her research has found 100 fatalities due to domestic violence in the provincebetween 2010 and 2016.

"One of the things that is an astonishing discovery that we've made is that not one woman died who was a client of one of these community-based advocacy programs," said Porteous.

Porteous says there are 69 community-based advocacy programs across B.C. including justice system support programs, liaison services for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, and mental health resources.

Still, that is not enough to keep up with the demand. She says B.C. needs morecommunity workers and programs to walkwomen through the process of leaving a violent home.

Supervised custody drop-off and government child support

Porteous says after women with children leave an abusive partner, they need "supervised access visits."

Oftentimes mothersfaceconflictingorders from the authorities. For example, social workers say protect your children from violence at all costs,but family law courts say the abusive parent needs regular access to the kids.

Lisa Rupert, director of housing services and violence prevention at the YWCA,says she is haunted by a story of a mother who was dragged into her ex's car when she was meeting him to hand their child over as part of a visitation arrangement.

Rupert says there needs to be semi-public, supervised,safe places where a mother can drop off a childand then leave before the ex-spouse arrives to pick up the child.

This supervision, says Rupert, should be paid for by the government or organizations not by women.

Furthermore, Rupert says, the government should assist withchild support, as many women struggling to pay rent cannot always count on their former spouses to pay up.

"I think we could go even further as a society and emulate some places in Europe where the government pays the child support, so that you know that you're getting it on a regular basis and then they try and recoup it from the non-custodial parent," she said.

Listen to the full story by The Early Edition story producer Jodie Martinson:

Where to get help:

VictimLinkBCis a toll-free, confidential, multilingual telephone service available across B.C. and the Yukon 24 hours a day, sevendays a week at 1-800-563-0808.

Service is provided in more than 110 languages, including 17 Indigenouslanguages.

VictimLinkBC is TTY accessible. Call TTY at 604-875-0885; to call collect, please call the Telus Relay Service at 711. Text to 604-836-6381. EmailVictimLinkBC@bc211.ca

Safe Homeis a CBCVancouverseries on domestic abuse and housing affordability. It can be heard onThe Early Editionat 7:10 a.m. PT starting Nov. 12 as well as local morning radio shows across the province. You can also watch for coverage on CBC Vancouver News at 6 weekdays and read stories online atcbc.ca/bc.