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By Jill Sperling

DOMESTIC ABUSE

More women reaching out for help from abusive situations as province begins opening

Jul 24, 2020 | 4:16 PM

KAMLOOPS — Incidents of sexual assault and domestic abuse are not new to the Kamloops area.

However, Alix Dolson, agency coordinator with the Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre says the COVID-19 pandemic put some women in a particularly dangerous situation.

“When quarantines (began) and everything shut down in mid-March we noticed a pretty significant drop-off, I mean, people were just not able to call,” Dolson said. “If you’re living in a violent situation and you’re at home all the time and you’re not able to have a safe place to make those phone calls, you really have no opportunity to reach out for help.”

The centre set up a 24-hour support line in March to connect people to services.

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“We know that violence is high during times of crisis, whether that’s economic crisis or financial crisis, people have lost their jobs, people are stuck at home, we might see substance use increase — these are all risk factors for increasing violence,” Dolson said.

As the province slowly opens, calls to the centre have begun to trend upward. As more people reach out, the waitlist for services is also increasing.

“We have a lot of really challenging, complex stuff going on in this city and we can see both with services here at the centre, as well as some of our community partners, there is more demand for these services than anyone is able to accomodate,” Dolson said. “So that means people who need support aren’t always getting it in a timely manner.”

The Y Women’s Shelter has also had a higher number of women and children accessing services in June and July, after a period of isolation.

“We definitely know that women were feeling very stuck,” said Michele Walker, general manager of Violence Against Women Intervention and Support Services with the YMCA. “(They) were feeling like there wasn’t a lot of options for them, that the violence they were experiencing was increasing in its severity, so getting out was becoming more and more challenging for some of the women who have shared their story with us.”

The shelter has space available and women are encouraged to reach out id they need help and call RCMP when in danger.

“Whether you are someone who is experiencing violence, or whether you are a friend or family member of someone who is, if you haven’t heard from your friend or your family member for a while, make sure you’re reaching out,” Walker said. “Make sure you’re giving those opportunities for them to receive supports. It really is about potentially saving lives.”