Women and children are being left out in the cold when it comes to housing from domestic violence, according to new research out of 鲍鱼tv University.
In an article , lead author reports there is a massive and growing need for safe and supportive housing for women escaping intimate partner violence that is largely or entirely unmet in most countries, including Canada.
The Lancet Public Health released the article today to coincide with on November 25.
Dr. Yakubovich (shown left), an assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine鈥檚 , conducted a systematic review of the international literature to see what policies and programs have been evaluated around the world that provide housing to women who have fled their homes to protect themselves, and often their children, from violent intimate partners.
The most startling finding, says Dr. Yakubovich, is that of the 24,000 records they scoured, she and her team found only 34 studies.
鈥淭here is a huge lack of resources going into studying this problem and evaluating potential solutions, nothing even close to the scale of the problem,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e also found a huge gap in evaluations of longer-term housing solutions for women experiencing violence. Most of what鈥檚 available is short-term emergency shelter, which is typically mandated for only a month of safe housing.鈥�
Pandemic exacerbates issue
Dr. Yakubovich and her colleagues found little evidence of any negative impacts of housing solutions on women. In terms of the positive impacts, they found that mental health outcomes improve substantially when there are housing solutions available.
鈥淲omen feel safer and experience less stress, their anxiety and depression are relieved, and they are more likely to feel supported in leaving their violent partner when they have viable housing options,鈥� she says. 鈥淭his has become even more important since the advent of the pandemic and the resulting increase in violence against women.鈥�
Studies show an overwhelming increase in violence against women related to the pressures of the pandemic, reflected in a dramatic uptick in reports to police, calls to domestic abuse hotlines, demand for women鈥檚 shelters and visits to hospital.
This rise in violence against women and girls has been classified by the United Nations as a 鈥淪hadow Pandemic.鈥�
鈥淪ervice providers report not just an increase in the number of clients since the pandemic began, but also in the severity of the violence,鈥� says Dr. Yakubovich, noting that there has also been an increase in the use of weapons to inflict violence against women.
鈥淲omen are at high risk of extremely poor outcomes, including serious injury, chronic pain and even death if they stay in their homes, but they may have few viable options for housing should they decide to go.鈥�
Read also: Ask an expert: Social Work's Nancy Ross explains the surge in domestic violence during the pandemic
The first step
The systematic review is the first part of a multi-part project, 鈥淏ridging the Evidence-Practice Gap in the Housing Response to Violence Against Women,鈥� for which Dr. Yakubovich has received two years of funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
The next stage is to explore how women report experiencing different housing interventions and how service providers feel delivering them. In the final stage of the project, Dr. Yakubovich and her team will assess the acceptability and feasibility of a range of potential policy solutions in the Canadian context.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really clear there is an urgent need for a gender focus in housing policy from coast to coast in Canada,鈥� says Dr. Yakubovich. 鈥淚ntimate partner violence is the number one cause of women鈥檚 homelessness, yet we are still waiting for a national strategy to address gender-based violence, let alone coordinated action for the homelessness that results.鈥�
Progress being made
The United States, United Kingdom and Australia have more developed housing policies and coordination across sectors to address women鈥檚 need for shelter from violence, she says, while in Canada a lack of focus on this issue and a lack of coordination across housing, health care and women鈥檚 advocacy sectors hamper progress and keep women in danger.
鈥淢ost homeless shelters in Canada are oriented towards men and can be scary, even dangerous places for women and their children,鈥� notes Dr. Yakubovich. 鈥淎nd we lack policies to support 鈥榮tay at home鈥� models where the violent partner is removed and the victim is given tenancy and protection.鈥�