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The federal government has committed to giving $700,000 in funding over three years to Newfoundland and Labrador to bolster its gender based violence support organizations and crisis hotlines — though some details are thin.
Pam Parsons, the minister responsible for women and gender equality, said Thursday the funding will expand existing crisis hotline services and capacity within transition houses to provide non-violent crisis intervention.
Parsons said the money is going to help the End Sexual Violence N.L. group improve its video conference services between regions and also expand language options.
The group’s Labrador office will be be getting equipment to facilitate mental health support over the phone for survivors of sexual violence and money will also go toward a new training model to support crisis hotline responders.
“Having a number to call to get an immediate emergency counselling and connecting people with the resources that they need as quickly as possible can make a positive difference in the lives of those reaching out for help,” Parsons said.
“It can actually save a life.”
Overwhelming Need
According to Statistics Canada, in 2018 more than 37 per cent of women in Newfoundland and Labrador had experienced physical or sexual assault as young as 15 years old.
Federal Minister of Women, Gender Equality and Youth Marci Ien also took to the podium during Thursday’s funding announcement. She said the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the situation some Canadians are facing.
“Because of the loss of income and isolation, overcrowding, stress, stigma, anxiety, all these factors led to what experts called a shadow pandemic of gender-based violence,” she said.
The organizations that work in the sector spoke about how they’ve seen an increase of requests for help.
Iris Kirby House executive director Malin Enström said the Iris Kirby House and O’Shaughnessy House take in about 55 per cent of women and children fleeing domestic violence in the province.
The organization also receives calls and texts from its own domestic violence phone line, she said.
“Last year we received about 12,000 phone calls to Iris Kirby House,” said Enström, adding the volume has gone up since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
End Sexual Violence N.L. executive director Sandra McKellar said there’s been a sharp rise in calls. In the last fiscal year, she said, her group had 11,156 calls related to gender-based violence or sexual violence from all over the province.
They also get calls from out of the province, including from international students who have reached out from their home countries.
“We had a 33.3 per cent increase in phone calls, but the request for the services and the programs that we offer; [a] 45 per cent increase,” she said.
McKellar said it’s extremely difficult to meet the demand right now.
“I think every person working here in a non-profit is well aware that we maximize the resources we have. We truly do,” she said.
She also wanted people to remember that those statistics are people.
“This makes it very human, very personal. We cannot ignore that,” she said. “So we do the best that we can, but the resources are so critical.”
Stella’s Circle CEO Laura Winters said she was thrilled with Thursday’s announcement, also pointing to a spike in demand for her organization’s services.
“We need services across the community sector. We need all of us working together to offer these supports,” she said. “I also think this announcement is important because it gets people talking about gender-based violence.”
Money Matters
Thursday’s funding announcement is part of a bigger $30 million, five-year deal that dates back to the 2021 federal budget to support Canadian crisis hotlines.
Premier Andrew Furey said didn’t go into further details about how that money would break down between the community groups, End Sexual Violence N.L. and the unspecified transition houses.
He said the Thursday’s event was a blanket funding announcement.
“The details, specifically in terms of the distribution, still has to be evaluated,” he said.
“This funding will help fix some of the gaps that exist in the system. The actual penny distribution has not been fully allocated just yet.”
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