With COVID-19 cases increasing daily across the country, the message from health officials and politicians is constant – stay at home.
While the message may seem simple, to people living in difficult relationships, it can be much more complicated. “That assumes that everyone has a home, or a stable home, or a safe home,” said Cheryl MacIssac, program director at Adsum for Women and Children. “Even those who do have a home, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s safe.” According to Statistics Canada, in 2016 just over a quarter of all violent crimes in the country resulted from family violence, and 67 percent of family violence victims were women or girls.