The Problem: The statistic is staggering: one in three Canadian women will experience physical, sexual, and/or psychological violence from an intimate partner in her lifetime. For many women and their children, leaving a violent relationship means being displaced from their home and community of support. This unfair consequence for women and their children has traditionally been accepted as unavoidable.
The Solution: The Partner Violence Implementation Science research team at MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions believes there is a better alternative. Based on the Safe at Home model from Australia and piloted in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, this program requires the perpetrator to leave the family home, giving survivors of violence the option to safely remain in place and recover with wrap-around supports from integrated police, health, social, policy, and legal services. Supports services and counselling is also available for the perpetrators.
Our goal is to tailor the program’s pillars to urban Canadian setting, starting with Hamilton where there is a strong, existing Violence Against Women network of providers; create a blueprint for the program’s cross-sector collaborations; and use evaluation to guide successful implementation, paving the way to full scale-up across Canada.
To date, we have taken significant steps towards implementing the Safe at Home model in Hamilton. We have formed dedicated steering committee consisting of peer survivors, Violence Against Women providers, City of Hamilton housing experts, Hamilton police, and Probation and Parole as well as legal groups to:
- offer subject-matter expertise;
- co-design a program;
- secured funding to co-create the roadmap;
- recruit experts to hear first-hand what would be needed in the Hamilton based program.
We need your help to keep going. Your donation will support current implementation funding priorities including:
- emergency items to support women such as moving costs, installation of home safety features (e.g. new locks);
- rent assistance;
- salary support for a program case manager.
All donations will help make a big impact and support the proven solutions of Safe at Home by offering improved housing permanency, reduced mental health symptoms for women facing violence, and increased stability for children.