NDP Promises $40M for Women’s Shelters After Mulcair Scuttles Debate on Women’s Issues

The party that's currently leading in the polls this election announced they will increase funding for shelters so women have more options to flee from violence. The NDP made the announcement a little over a week after party leader Thomas Mulcair pulled out of a federal debate on women's issues. The debate was subsequently cancelled.

Pointing out that more than 500 women and children were turned away from shelters one night in April last year, Mulcair pledged more support for women's shelters.

"I'm committing today, that under an NDP government, we will take action to ensure that never again will a woman in need be turned away from a shelter," Mulcair said Monday.

According to StatsCan, on April 16, 2014, 338 women and 201 children who were with them were turned away. In just over half of those cases, it was because the shelter was full. StatsCan also reports that emotional and physical abuse were the most common reasons women gave for visiting the 627 women's shelters across Canada.

The NDP's plan is to inject $40 million in funding over four years into the Shelter Enhancement Program, anticipating the funding will help create or renovate 2,100 spaces and shelters, and 350 transitional housing spaces.

In the same announcement, Mulcair promised more funding for affordable housing and homelessness programs. "When a woman has to pack up and take the kids, and leave a violent situation, they need a new place they can call home," Mulcair said. "Well, we'll provide that new home."

Mulcair made the announcement in Saskatchewan, which along with Manitoba has the highest rates of reported violence against women, with rates more than double the national average, according to StatsCan.

The NDP has promised a national action plan to address the issue in coordination with women's groups and Indigenous communities, if they form government.

Though Mulcair said, "My priority is to end violence against women," and headlines about his announcement said he had unveiled a plan to do so, it was unclear what exactly the NDP plan would be to prevent the violence itself from happening.

By the NDP's own admission, gender inequality, not the capacity of shelters, is the root cause of violence against women.

Overall, men are responsible for 83 percent of the violent acts committed against women in Canada.

The most common perpetrators of violence against women are their intimate partners, and nearly 70 percent of violent incidents against women occurred in private residences—the victim or offender's home, for instance.

The homicide rate for women in Canada decreased between the mid-1970s and 2000, but in the past decade the murder rate has remained stable, while other violent crime has decreased.

In Canada, violence against women disproportionately falls on Indigenous women. Identifying as Aboriginal is a socio-demographic factor that increases risk of violence, and in 2013, Aboriginal women accounted for 16 percent of all female homicides, but represented only 4.3 percent of Canada's female population.

Both the NDP and the Liberals have promised a national inquiry into the high number of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada, while Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper has repeatedly turned down the idea. On Monday, Mulcair reiterated that, if elected, he would order an inquiry within the first 100 days of taking office.

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