How much does a woman’s life cost?

How much does a woman’s life cost?

I asked myself the question this week while attending the traditional unveiling of the wish lists that we present on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

In the area of ​​femicide prevention, this year’s list once again included several proposals deserving serious consideration, whether it be the establishment of a specific financing program for the development of shelters¹ or the criminalization of coercive control².

While Quebec took advantage of March 8 to press Ottawa to criminalize coercive control to protect women – an NDP proposal which is already under study in the House of Commons³ –, it was disturbing to say the least to see his lack of eagerness to respect his own promises towards women victims of domestic violence.

Remember that in the spring of 2021, when we were witnessing with horror a wave of feminicides, Prime Minister François Legault committed to tackling the problem head on by deploying a series of measures. One of his promises was to create enough accommodation places for women who must flee violent homes.

Three years later, if we can welcome several advances made in the wake of the transpartisan report Rebuilding trustthe promise relating to shelters is struggling to materialize, mired in too narrow administrative boxes and work in isolation.

Despite all the efforts made by directors of shelters to open new establishments, they face a wall. For what ? Because the life – or rather the survival – of women victims of domestic violence does not fit into any box of the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ). In the absence of a program designed specifically for them, they are placed in the “social housing” box. A box that does not take into account the fact that a shelter, to achieve its mission, is not just a matter of doors. Security measures and spaces must be provided to support women and children who are victims of domestic violence.

In such a context, we say to shelters: “Sorry! We can’t finance you. You cost too much for the door! »

Hence this question that I asked from the outset: exactly how much does a woman’s life cost?

“I can’t believe that in Quebec, we are going to have a cost logic at the door to save a woman’s life! “, thunders Sabrina Lemeltier, general director of the La Dauphinelle shelter, who, with her colleagues, implores the government in an open letter to move from words to action.

“We were told: “Open places! There are too many refusals due to lack of places.” Which was true. But I would tell you that we are in the same situation today as in 2021.” In the shelter that she runs, refusals due to lack of places are unfortunately daily.

Read the open letter

To put words into action, the establishment of a specific program for the construction of shelters seems to make sense. This would make it possible to better coordinate the work of all the ministries concerned (Housing, Health and Social Services and Status of Women) to protect women victims of domestic violence.

At the moment, coordination is not exactly there. While the new La Dauphinelle shelter, which was supposed to have been open for a while, has still not seen the light of day due to housing problems under the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) urges its director to open it to give her the funding already planned for the services that must be offered there. “But I would open a house where I would not have the space to provide services that will be financed by the MSSS! It’s still far-fetched,” observes Sabrina Lemeltier.

It must be understood that we are not talking here about permanent housing, but rather a high-security transitional shelter for women at high risk of femicide.

“In the shelter that we want to open, our admission criterion is the dangerousness of the ex-spouse,” explains the general director of La Dauphinelle.

Despite these specificities, we treat shelters as if they were any social housing project, she deplores.

Hence this other question that I ask myself: in a society where gender equality is a cardinal value, is it really the role of philanthropy to ensure that victims of domestic violence have access to services accommodation?

Note that this would be less indecent than another “solution” mentioned to reduce the costs of shelters: asking for financial contributions from women victims of domestic violence. “In certain financial arrangements, we ask for contributions of up to $1,000 per month. There is confusion here with social housing. As if women had to pay rent to have emergency services,” notes Sabrina Lemeltier.

For the moment, there is no indication that the Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, is open to the idea of ​​creating a specific program so that women who are most at risk of femicide can have access to shelters promised by the government in 2021.

The written declaration sent by his office on this subject simply highlights the “primary role” of shelters without taking into account the role that the State must play to properly support their mission outside the huts.

“We are aware that the needs are great. In collaboration with the SHQ, we support organizations so that project development is more agile and more efficient, in particular to optimize costs and ensure the success of projects. »

In short, we remain here in an accounting logic where we seem to worry more about the cost of a door than the cost of a life.

1. Read ““Inadequate” funding from Quebec forces the halt of accommodation projects”

2. Read the article from Duty “Quebec urges Ottawa to criminalize coercive control to protect women”

3. Read the column “It’s Not Love, It’s Control”