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Abusers are weaponizing British Columbia’s housing affordability crisis, say domestic violence survivors who were interviewed by a Vancouver nonprofit.
Rise Women’s Legal Center conducted interviews with more than 40 victims of intimate partner violence and, in a new report, recommends legal reforms to ensure protective orders can be accessed more quickly and an expansion of legal aid services so victims can exit relationships and find safer housing.
Rise attorney Haley Hrymak spoke to victims, along with dozens of others involved in the legal system and domestic violence charities, and authored the report.
The housing crisis in British Columbia, she says, often leads people to stay in or return to abusive relationships because they can’t find affordable alternative housing.
BC has seen a surge in intimate partner violence in the last week, two of which involved people aged 60 and older. As Johna Baylon reports, intimate partner violence has been on the rise among older adults and advocates are calling for something to be done.
“Abusers are using the housing crisis, including, you know, the lack of alternatives available to people, as a way to perpetrate their violence,” she said.
“So people are experiencing threats like, ‘If you left me, you would have nowhere to go.'”
The report revealed how British Columbia’s family law system often fails to consider safe housing when deciding on protection orders or custody applications, Hyrmak said.
It recommends, among other things, that the British Columbia Family Law Act be amended to require courts to consider gender-related factors in relocation applications, including housing affordability and family violence.
British Columbia Premier David Eby was in Ottawa on Thursday and one of the issues he raised with his federal counterparts is the need for bail reform and tougher measures against perpetrators of intimate partner violence. As Katie DeRosa reports, this comes as the family of a woman allegedly murdered by her ex-husband in Kelowna calls for urgent reforms.
“There should also be flexibility in the notification requirements to keep the address confidential or provide an address closer to the date of the proposed relocation,” the report reads.
Additionally, the report recommends an expansion of legal aid services to help survivors of domestic violence make applications for family assets.
It also calls for more communication within the family law system itself to allow for faster child support and protection orders, something that was also recommended in an independent review commissioned by the province and written by Dr. Kim Stanton earlier this year.
“You can’t wait six months for a family court child support order to be enforced. You really needed that money five months ago when rent was due,” Hrymak said.
Long waiting list for transitional housing
Erin Seeley, executive director of YWCA Metro Vancouver, says the organization has more than 1,000 women and families on its waiting list for long-term and transitional housing units.
“No matter how many units we build, our wait list will not decrease,” he said.
“And in part, that’s because we’re hearing from women that when they’re offered… transitional housing, it can be a shorter stay, up to 18 months,” Seeley added. “They don’t want to stay short-term because they don’t want to take that risk.”
Seeley said she is encouraged to see the call for more funding for legal aid, but adds that those working in the family law system must be trauma-informed and sensitive to the needs of victims of intimate partner violence.
“One of the discouraging things is that we didn’t see anything in the federal budget for women on housing,” Seeley said.
“We saw some funding coming from women’s advancement and gender equality that we hope will continue to flow to the provinces. But we need more provincial investment to address gender-based violence.”
A spokesperson for British Columbia’s Attorney General said the province is investing more than $1 billion in transitional housing for women over a decade.
They added that, following Stanton’s report, the government is carrying out a comprehensive review of the Family Law Act.
Proposed changes to the law may include expanding eligibility for protective orders and reducing barriers for those seeking consecutive orders, the spokesperson said.
“In the coming weeks, the government will share an update on the Province’s progress in response to the report’s recommendations, including next steps to promote [co-ordination] and collaboration between actors within the legal system,” they added.
