Fund helping survivors of domestic violence flee abuse in Halifax nearly drained

HALIFAX -

With six months left in the year, the Halifax YWCA says it has already drained nearly all of its fund for helping domestic violence survivors fleeing abuse as it fields 30 calls for help a day.

Miia Suokonautio said demand for support from women and non-binary people facing gender-based violence continues to grow. She said five to 10 of the 30 daily calls for support are coming from people asking for help for the first time, and since January 2024, about $125,000 has been spent to help 182 people through grants and loans.

"(The) $500 to $1,000 (grants and loans) could be the difference between life or death for some people," Suokonautio said in an interview Monday.

She said the majority of survivors of domestic violence at the Halifax YWCA say the top barrier to fleeing is "fear of violence or death. And then the second most common reason is financial viability."

In most cases, the money is used for housing needs like first month's rent or a damage deposit, or sometimes a phone bill, and it is paid directly to a landlord or phone company, Suokonautio said.

The executive director said that if demand continues at this rate, they would help as many as 400 survivors by the end of 2024. The YWCA is working to raise $100,000 in order to make that happen.

Suokonautio says in her 10 years with the organization, they have never turned someone away who needed help, and she's hopeful that donations will allow the YWCA to continue to provide financial support to survivors.

Suokonautio said the uptick in demand for help may not be a sign of increased domestic violence in the area, but it does show that more women know where to reach out as they flee violence. As well, the organization has been able to help more people as funding for this program increases. The YWCA's funding comes from the Nova Scotia and federal governments, as well as from donations.

In 2023, they helped 236 people and 269 survivors were helped in the year prior.

The increase in demand comes after periods of relative quiet in 2020 and 2021 that coincided with COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, Suokonautio said. "A lot of women's organizations called it this 'great silence' because it was not safe to start planning to leave" at that time, and that has changed since lockdowns ended.

In a statement Monday, the Nova Scotia Liberal status of women critic Lorelei Nicoll called on the province to step in to ensure the YWCA has the money necessary to help those in need.

"It is extremely concerning to learn that the YWCA Halifax, an organization that provides support to survivors of gender-based violence, is on the brink of exhausting their annual funding within the first six months of the year," she said, adding that domestic violence in Nova Scotia is an epidemic, with police-reported cases surpassing the national average and an estimated four out of five cases going unreported.

"The scarcity of affordable housing exacerbates this crisis, leaving those fleeing domestic violence trapped in dangerous situations," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2024.

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