For Immediate Release
February 20, 2025
February is Violence Prevention Month. NL NDP Leader Jim Dinn (St. John’s Centre) says that government’s piecemeal approach to the housing crisis is exacerbating the threats faced by many people, particularly women and children, facing violence in the home.
Women's shelters have been at capacity for years, partly because the housing shortage has reduced options for families seeking to start new lives away from the shelters. This, says Dinn, has left many with nowhere to turn when escaping domestic violence.
He says more supports are needed for existing women’s shelters, and more shelter space for women leaving violent partners has to become a priority.
“When women are fleeing violence, they need a safe place to go immediately. Ideally, this means a separate shelter with the wraparound services for the survivor and her children,” said Dinn. “Let’s call domestic violence what it is – an epidemic. In Violence Prevention Month, government should be ashamed of the effects its inaction is having on survivors.
“There are good organizations doing great work in this field all over this province. Government should make a serious commitment to help them and the people forced to live in fear because they have nowhere to go.”
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For further information, contact Stephanie Curran, Media and Communications Officer, NDP Caucus at 330-0328 (o), or stephaniecurran@gov.nl.ca
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