When a woman comes to Canada and doesn't have stable status in the country, it places her in ongoing jeopardy. If she's in a relationship where her partner is abusing her, or even entering a relationship where she will be abused, she's in this holding pattern. Until her status here is determined or until she knows that she can stay, she has difficulty with things like employment. She may have difficulty with housing. If there are children, they are going to feel that they are not in a stable situation.
Whether she's coming here to flee an abusive relationship in her country of origin, or whether she's here and the abusive relationship is also here, stabilizing her legal status in Canada is important. It's sort of like housing, in the way that Keri talked about so eloquently earlier. Without some of these foundational pieces of stability, women are living in situations that expose them to more abuse and make it much more difficult for them to move past that trauma.