Women who face partner violence in Athabasca also face barriers to leaving those abusive relationships, according to local frontline workers.
Questions like, “Who will feed my horses?” or “Who will look after my cats?” often come from women in these situations said Brenda, the coordinator for Athabasca’s Prevention of Relationship Abuse Program.
“I left three times already, and look what people are saying” is another common line, according to Cheryl Smith, a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder mentor based in town with Healthy Families, Healthy Futures.
It takes an average of five times to leave for good, said Brenda, who asked to go by her first name only.
She said women also often ask, “Who will take care of him?”
If those formidable questions are overcome, one question remains: where do they go?
Brenda said if someone is fleeing an abusive relationship, emergency social services and Victim Services Alberta fund a hotel for a night, so in theory, “It’s possible to leave.”
However, some hotels in Athabasca and Edmonton refuse to take certain people — people who are on income support, for instance, said Smith.
Shelters offer a slightly longer-term stay: anywhere from about 14 to 44 days.
“We do transport if we can find a shelter bed, which is a difficulty sometimes,” said Brenda, noting that the shelters nearest Athabasca — such as Hope Haven in Lac La Biche and Northern Haven in Slave Lake — are often full, and she has never been able to get a client into an Edmonton shelter.
Brenda is not alone in struggling to find shelter spaces: the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters reported that in 2011-2012, shelters turned away 4,566 women and accepted 6,112.
When asked if Athabasca needs its own shelter, Smith was emphatic.
“Anyone that works in agency — like child services here, income support — we all know that we see the need.”
Kelly Lynn Spafford, the program coordinator for Community Action for Healthy Relationships, said she wonders if a shelter is precisely what’s needed, or if second-stage housing would be a better fit. Brenda described second-stage housing as not so much a place to flee as a place to get back on your feet, where stays often range from three to six months.
“They need even more support at that time,” said Brenda. “After two weeks or a month is over, where do they go? What happens now? And especially in this area, our housing situation is very much a challenge.”
Not everyone may be convinced that a shelter or housing for people leaving abusive situations in Athabasca is needed. Brenda said Family and Community Support Services did “an informal study” several years ago that looked at related issues, but the results from that study are nowhere to be found today. Smith said some people say another study should be done to determine if the need exists.
Even if consensus reached on the need for a shelter, it would only be the first hurdle cleared, the women agreed.
“It’s not undertaken lightly,” said Spafford. “There’s very stringent criteria and requirements. You have 24-7 residential care, and you’ve got 24-7 security. And that costs funding as well.”
When asked if rates of domestic violence have gone up in town, Athabasca RCMP Sgt. Brian Scott said the rates seemed consistent at the very least, adding that his detachment receives “quite a number of complaints.”
“It wouldn’t hurt, I’m sure,” said Scott of building a shelter, though he wondered how such a project could be concealed, pointing out that you wouldn’t want the location well known.
Smith said it would be simple to mitigate safety concerns with a buzzer system and police driving by regularly. Both she and Brenda agreed that the benefits of women being able to stay in their home community — keeping their jobs and leaving their children enrolled in school — would far outweigh any stigma associated with staying at a shelter in their home town.
Funding would be the biggest issue, said Brenda.
“There is some government funding, but it’s very limited,” she said, adding that she knows of no shelters that are funded by government exclusively.
As for who would pony up the rest of the money and lead the project, Spafford said no single entity springs to mind.
“I think it really requires a few dedicated partners,” said Spafford. “I think it would require a few agencies talking, and keep the conversation going — the county, ministerial, us, other partners.”
Darcy Dafoe, a home visitor for Healthy Families, Healthy Futures, said she would like to see corporate funding commitments.
“I’d like to figure out how we can get these big companies — the oil companies … and stuff — there’s got to be a way that they should be able to take responsibility and some interest in the community that they’re building their business in.”
Most importantly, said Smith, the funding would have to be sustainable — “more than just building the building, or finding the building.” Insurance rates can be high for shelters, and safety training for volunteers can be costly.
An Athabasca women’s shelter or second-stage housing complex is a idea at best, for the moment. Spafford said a women’s shelter came up in talks between several organizations in Athabasca six to eight years ago but did not gain traction.
Tamara Yurchak, chair of the Athabasca and Area Prevention of Relationship Abuse Action Committee, acknowledged there is always a need for more supports for those who’ve been abused, but noted shelter operation is not in PRAAC’s mandate.
FCSS manager Debbie Wood said running a shelter also runs contrary to FCSS’s mandate.
Still, Spafford noted, agencies in town are working together more and more, and with collaboration and volunteers stepping forward, who knows what could materialize.
In the meantime, Brenda keeps driving her clients to shelters from Whitecourt to Wabasca. She made two trips to shelters in November, and she said she’s not sure what Christmas will hold.
“Christmas is a hard time for anybody, never mind a family that has domestic violence or abuse issues going on. It’s a hard time for anyone because of what society perceives as a normal Christmas: the happy family, and we’ve got to have all these presents, and we’ve got to do this and we’ve got to do that,” she said. “When you’re dealing with relationship issues, that just adds more stress.”
