Manitoba man fears his daughter will die on the streets due to lack of shelter space for women

A Manitoba father says the lack of resources and emergency shelter space specifically for women in Winnipeg is leaving people like his daughter at risk everyday — and he fears she will soon end up dead. 

The man, who CBC News is not naming to protect his daughter's identity, said his daughter is homeless and addicted to meth and that he and his ex-wife have been unable to get their daughter the help she needs for the past seven years. 

He said she often sleeps under bridges or in encampments and walks the streets because she doesn't feel safe using Winnipeg's shelter system.

"Just a sense of hopelessness," he said. "I feel very helpless. I feel like I'm being made to watch my daughter commit suicide. There's nothing I can do to help her and that's the hardest thing."

While most mid-to-large Canadian cities have at least one emergency shelter just for women, Winnipeg does not.

There are places that are specifically for women who have been trafficked or are leaving abusive relationships but there is no emergency overnight shelter just for females. 

All of the overnight shelters are co-ed.

There were 418 people or 35.4 per cent of respondents in the Winnipeg Street Census 2022 who identified as being female.

'We should have somewhere safe for them to go that the women will feel safe. That they have no concerns to be there," he said. "We've seen people that get preyed on. You don't know why that guy is in the homeless shelter. He could be there just strictly as a predator looking for people."

In December, sources told CBC that alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki frequented soup kitchens and homeless shelters in Winnipeg's inner city, meeting women whom he would take home to his apartment.

"We unfortunately hear about women that get targeted, that are homeless, that are, you know, trying to go to some of these shelters that are are not meant for just women but are supposed to be safe spaces," he said. 

In April, the dismembered remains of a woman - later identified as June Christine Johnson - were found near the Red River in Winnipeg's South Point Douglas neighbourhood. No one has been arrested in connection to her death. 

It took a month for Johnson to be identified and the man said every time he hears about another woman who's been killed in the city, his heart sinks waiting to find out if it was his daughter. 

"I just hope it's not my daughter. We're waiting for phone calls from the police to say that [they] found my daughter," he said. "But that's our biggest fear and that's kind of an expectation of what's coming next."