The Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters’ newest report shines a light on the impact of COVID’s “shadow pandemic” on Alberta’s domestic abuse survivors and the shelters that support them. Featuring the voices of survivors and service providers from across Alberta, it is one of the most comprehensive reports to date of how the unique conditions created by the pandemic, declared four years ago, impacted survivors, their work, their children, their families, and their communities. For more information, please read the statement from ACWS below:
Our new report, When Other Doors Were Closed, Ours Were Open, is one of the most comprehensive accounts to date of how the unique conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic impacted domestic violence shelters and survivors.
When so many services shuttered, our member women’s shelters remained open. They were often the only place individuals in need had to go for support, and in embarking on this research, we wanted to better understand how that impacted their staff and clients. We also wanted to better understand how the acceleration of domestic violence and the barriers to resources and services many survivors experienced during the pandemic would impact the future. The report was compiled from qualitative data gathered over seven weeks across nine communities in Alberta, combined with quantitative data gathered by ACWS and our members since the pandemic began. We hope its data and conclusions may be used by researchers at institutions across the country to build upon and further evolve our understanding of the source and impact of domestic violence in society, and the experiences of both survivors and service providers. Some of the learnings include:
- Children exposed to abuse face greater barriers and display more challenging behaviors than four years ago.
- Domestic violence shelters were often the ONLY resource for women in the community and were a lifeline for many survivors.
- There is a continuing dearth of many social services across Alberta and especially in rural communities.
- Survivors are experiencing dwindling empathy from both organizations and neighbours.
Further, it reinforced findings from our 2023 compilations of member data and experiences, On the Front Lines and Survivors Deserve Better. Shelters Deserve Better. Alberta Deserves Better. Of particular concern is:
- Calls for help and the number of survivors that Alberta shelters are unable to house are both at 10-year highs.
- 85% of staff surveyed reported that economic abuse has increased since the pandemic began.
- 65% of survivors surveyed in the last year are at severe or extreme risk of being killed.
- 72% of staff surveyed reported increases in burnout caused by the pandemic.
As a member-based association, for thirty years ACWS has boasted a robust research team to gather and collate data from our members on domestic violence and abuse in Alberta (find our extensive archive here). We hope more researchers at institutions nation-wide can take advantage of the large volume of material research. Please use it and cite it in your own work. Further, we are always open to expanding our research partnerships.