
The stay at home orders, which were a key strategy to managing COVID 19, drew widespread attention to the violence that occurs at home. This post discusses who is affected by violence at home (COVID or no) and some of the effects.
These days, the word violence comes with multiple designations: violence against women, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and gender based violence, to name a few. The way that housing is provided has a part in the violence that people experience.
Let’s take violence against women as a starting point. Initially, that referred to a woman beaten by her male partner. The language of this definition is beginning to blur as contemporary issues are raised about sex and gender. But the acts of violence, the perpetrators and their victims continue to be with us, regardless of describing language.
When living with a violent partner, it is impossible to experience home as a place of safety. Options, when thinking about fleeing violence, are constrained by income. People living on their own are more likely to have high housing costs compared with income, leaving them with limited funds to pay for other necessities. Women earn less than men for equivalent work. Women are also more frequently employed in work with low wages: child care, elder care, retail, housekeeping. More housing that is affordable for people with low wages is needed to ensure safety, particularly women experiencing violence.
Domestic violence widens the scope to include children, both as witnesses and as targets. Home is not a place of safety. A parent (most commonly the mom) can leave with the children, perhaps to an emergency shelter, other family or friends. These landing places are temporary. The income constraints discussed above are in play when deciding where to go next. Single mothers as a group are more likely to have very high housing costs compared to their income.
Social housing, where rents are geared to incomes, often give priority to families fleeing violence, but the need far exceeds the supply and are not a realistic hope in the short term. Single parent, female headed households that are fleeing violence are often given priority access to housing allowances/vouchers, which help to pay rent in private sector accommodation. Once again, housing that is affordable for households with low incomes are needed to ensure safety for single parents and their children.
For purposes of this discussion, the term intimate partner violence refers to men in heterosexual relationships and people in same sex couples. It also includes the children in those relationships. Either group can expect that they won’t have access to the services that are offered to women. Domestic violence shelters often refuse services to men and adult shelters won’t accommodate children. They may not be eligible for financial assistance to help pay for housing. And, when seeking new housing, they may experience discrimination, especially if there are children. Given this lack of interim support options, they urgently need to be able to access housing that is affordable to secure a safe space.
Gender based violence intersects with housing in a number of ways, starting at the extreme of unsheltered homelessness. Homelessness on its own carries an increased risk of violence, but for people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, two spirited or transgender (LGBTTSQ), violent attacks are even more common. LGBTTSQ people are also over-represented among people who are unsheltered, compared with their overall representation in the population. They generally shun emergency shelters, where they or someone they know has been attacked (despite shelter safety and non-discrimination policies to the contrary). Given these odds, they may opt for an unsafe or risky housing situation, which comes with downsides including drug trafficking and/or work in the sex trade.
LGBTTSQ people may also experience violence in their home growing up. They often become homeless at young age: many report being thrown out following conflicts with parents. The child protection system is often a landing point for children who have not reached the age of majority. However, individuals who have aged out of the system attest to violence at the hands of caregivers and other children: protection isn’t part of their experience.
Finally, a few more words on the child protection system. Children can be taken in to care when their housing is unsuitable, for example over-crowded or in poor condition. The same goes when unsuitable parenting is an issue. All adults have a duty to report suspected abuse. These substantial powers apply to anyone who is parenting, but especially targets those who are struggling to pay for housing, or living in substandard conditions.
There is also evidence that the protection system in Canada specifically targeted children of First Nations, Inuit and Métis parents (You may know it as the Sixties Scoop.) The violence of the Sixties Scoop has been acknowledged through apologies and some compensation from the federal government. Class action suits in several provinces are still before the courts. For more on the history and legacy of the Sixties Scoop, see the Canadian Encyclopedia: Sixties Scoop