Thank you to the chair and to the members for the opportunity to present today as you undertake a study on the role and capacity of women's shelters and transitional housing.
My name is Erin Lee, and I'm the executive director of Lanark County Interval House and Community Support, the only dedicated anti-violence agency in rural Lanark County. In addition, I'm a current member of the Ontario domestic violence death review committee.
Safe, stable and affordable housing is central to a woman's capacity to access her courage to flee. It is part of the survival tools for women attempting to break the cycle, and it often forces women to choose between enduring violence or attempting to leave and facing unplanned homelessness. Safe refuge and shelter reduce the isolation and provide the physical sanctuary for women to land, to find their strength, to begin to heal and to rebuild their lives.
In rural communities, the realities are layered. There is often only one shelter or dedicated service. Many are consistently full. Remote and rural shelters and transitional housing are not adequately funded. Distance for women to be safer, lack of transportation, gun use, generational families, court delays and lack of dedicated justice support, coupled with the lack of affordable housing, are among the top barriers to a permanent disruption of the cycle of violence. However, rural communities have capacity to lean in, and we have, together with local politicians on the municipal level as well as local businesses, created second-stage and beyond second-stage housing in our community.
Housing insecurity, poverty and gender-based violence are all interconnected, and they perpetuate the cycle of violence. Financial realities in an abusive relationship often limit access. Women cannot flee poverty without having a safe place to go. Accessing housing is challenging, and that reality often leads back to returning to an abusive situation.
Finding the courage to leave often means leaving everything behind, resulting in unplanned homelessness. The cycle then impacts employment, separation of bills and increased risk at separation. Added to this scenario are family court, criminal court and children. In up to 30% of the cases we receive, women report they return to the abusive situation due to the systemic challenges once they've fled. Basic income and investment in transitional and second-stage housing options create pathways to break this cycle permanently.
As a member of the Ontario domestic violence death review committee, I see the ultimate price women pay when adequate supports are missing. The reality is that lethality is at its highest point at the time of separation. Women could make safer decisions if there were adequate, appropriate housing options available. There are hundreds of recommendations that have been made to change the lived realities of women and their children across the system. Unfortunately, the recommendations are not enforceable, so advocates continue their efforts to make things change and encourage implementation.
As a witness who provided testimony at the CKW inquest in Renfrew, Ontario, in 2022, I can say that oversight, implementation and creation of a commission on IPV and GBV are critical. Having experts informing the government and making evidence-based recommendations to effect meaningful change in community is essential.
Amplifying the lived experience of survivors is also a pathway that must be considered. The reality is that women's shelters and transitional housing sectors have a long history and proven capacity. Shelters have been doing the work for 40-plus years, and they are the experts.
Intentional and modified funding equations must be in place to recognize the differential realities across the country, especially for rural, remote and fly-in communities. Shelters and transitional housing organizations must have adequate funding, as they are often the keepers in elevated risk and emergency situations. The ultimate price women pay when adequate supports are not available is death.
Recommendations must be considered as solutions and pathways to change, from the 231 calls for justice to the Mass Casualty Commission. Please, I implore you to engage and work united to build an IPV and GBV commission rooted in expert voices informing direction.
Thank you very much for your time and your attention.