Whether around mixed shelters or women’s shelters with public addresses, men try to take advantage of women’s vulnerability.
At Samuel-Holland Park, a stone’s throw from the YWCA Quebec, it is not uncommon for men to solicit female residents for sexual favors. “A year or two ago, we had a man who offered ten piastres for a blowjob in the park,” says the general director, Stéphanie Lampron, with a sigh. Some will accept, others will experience it as harassment. They will come and tell us, but sometimes it takes time before we find out. »
Sometimes, it is directly in the parking lot that the solicitation is made. Men pick up women in their cars, “and it’s not too clear” what’s happening there. She also sees men trying to sell drugs to women who have stopped using.
“We have cameras on the ground, so as soon as we are able to identify the person, we call them directly. » In some cases, his team will call the police.
“I find it appalling,” protests Stéphanie Lampron. People know that we have a pool of vulnerable people, that we have women who are trying to get by and who are fragile. That’s why we’re very alert, because we want to protect them. »
At the La Cheminée nuit heat stop in Quebec, Olivier Martin is also saddened to see men trying to take advantage of women’s vulnerability. When her team spots women who are particularly at risk, they try to protect them, but they don’t always want their help. In some cases, they don’t even seem to be aware of the danger.
And although he is able to spot “shady people” in the area, it is not always easy to know whether the women who frequent the stopover are victims of exploitation or not, he laments. “No matter how much we ask questions, it’s never clear: are these consumption problems? Are you the dealer ? Are you the pimp? Are you a friend? Are you a friend who can turn into a pimp? It’s difficult to distinguish between real intentions and perceived intentions. »
Respect for confidentiality
Marina Boulos-Winton, the director of Chez Doris, which welcomes homeless women near Cabot Square, deplores the presence of predators around her Montreal establishment. Same thing at the Patricia Mackenzie Pavilion at the Old Brewery Mission, a women’s shelter on De Maisonneuve Boulevard in the Village. “At the beginning of the month, there is the issue of money, of consumption. We see more people milling around the pavilion, says clinical coordinator Elyzabeth Garant. We will see men passing by, cars slowing down and which we will see again regularly. »
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Here too, we often intervene to ask the men to move away from the shelter. We also raise awareness among women who sometimes, “without any bad intention,” bring male friends to the door of the shelter, asking them to wait for them, for example, while they change. “We try to raise awareness among women about respecting the confidentiality and safety of other women by telling them that they may not want people to know that they are in a women’s center,” explains M.me Guarantor.
This is in fact one of the particularities of female homelessness. They will often try to “make themselves invisible” so as not to become possible prey. This is why many people avoid going to mixed resources and which explains why many women’s shelters have a confidential address. This strategy of invisibility is a well-known defense mechanism in the industry, because the streets are hard for women.