Ontario's next government must address 'pain and injustice' of intimate partner violence, say Hamilton groups

Even when a one-of-a-kind program is supporting over 100 rural women experiencing intimate partner violence, it's still hard to find the money to keep it running, says the head of Hamilton's Interval House.

Interval executive director Sue Taylor said she's looking for real action from whichever party wins the provincial election next week, with more permanent funding for programs that address an alarming rate of domestic violence, especially in areas overlooked like rural communities. 

"We need leadership from our government," said Taylor. 

"The City of Hamilton has declared intimate partner violence an epidemic. I look forward to Ontario doing the same." 

The province has yet to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic, despite a push by the Ontario NDP and dozens of municipalities.

Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles said declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic would mean treating it as a public health crisis and devoting resources to fighting it. The Ontario NDP put forward Bill 173 last year, requiring the government to declare an epidemic, but a motion to pass it was struck down. 

Instead, the Progressive Conservative government announced it would study the issue first. That committee's work was cut short in December amid speculation an election would soon be called, which it was.

It was also the top recommendation of a corner's inquest a couple of years ago into the 2015 deaths of three women in Renfrew County — a mostly rural area outside Ottawa.

Taylor said Interval House's recent experiences trying to offer services to vulnerable women and their children in rural areas demonstrates the challenges providers continue to face and why the province needs to step up. 

While Interval House provides emergency shelter and supports within the city for women and their children experiencing abuse or violence, historically there have been no similar in-person programs for women living within most of Hamilton's tens of thousands of rural acres, said Taylor. 

The exception is Interval House's Flamborough Women's Resource Centre, said Judi Partridge, who co-founded the satellite location in 2005. 

"Intimate partner violence knows no scale of economy," said the former Hamilton city councillor. 

"You've got women who are living in beautiful homes and yet they're only allowed to go out for an hour to do their shopping, they're given a certain amount of money and if they don't come back, they're living under constant threats like, 'you'll never see your children again.'"

Rural women experience gender-based violence at a rate 75 per cent higher than urban women and five times higher than rural men, says recent national data compiled by Western University.