City councillor to raise motion to declare domestic violence 'epidemic' in Hamilton

Advocates for domestic violence survivors are calling on city council to declare intimate partner and domestic partner violence an epidemic in Hamilton. 

Coun. Nrinder Nann says she believes council will "unanimously" vote through a motion in August to answer that call. She said her motion will be seconded by Hamilton mayor Andrea Horwath. 

If passed, Hamilton will join over 30 other Ontario municipalities in declaring intimate partner and domestic partner violence an epidemic — a move the province rejected last week, despite it being a recommendation from the 2022 Renfrew County inquest.

On Friday morning, at the memorial for the 14 women killed at École Polytechnique in 1989, nine representatives from the Woman Abuse Working Group (WAWG) spoke about the rising statistics in the city.

WAWG is made up of 22 community organizations that support survivors of gender-based violence.

This includes women's shelters like Carol Anne's Place and YWCA Hamilton, Indigenous organizations like the Hamilton Regional Indian Centre and the Native Women's Centre, and the Sexual Assault Centre of Hamilton (SACHA). 

The message shared by all speakers was that the organizations cannot meet the demand for women seeking shelter space and counselling services.

Jessica Bonilla-Damptey, executive director of SACHA, said the city needs to offer assistance immediately. 

"Not one more life lost because of intimate partner violence. Not one more life lost because of gender-based violence. Not one more woman or gender-diverse person turned away from shelter because there is no space. Not one more Indigenous woman who goes missing or is murdered," she said.

Then together, the crowd gathered outside of city hall chanted, "Not one more!" 

Thea Symonds, project coordinator for WAWG, presented a "snapshot" of intimate partner and domestic partner violence statistics for 2022.

Last year 4,498 women were turned away from women's shelters because no beds were available, while only 878 women, some with children, were able to access a shelter. 

"There is no shelter space in our city and in surrounding areas. Shelters have no overflow capacity or emergency space left. There isn't any room left, and that is a fact," Bonilla-Damptey said. 

Hamilton police received 657 reports of sexual violence, but the average wait time to see a councillor through the SACHA was six months.