Canada: Many Abused Women in  Danger of Being Killed - Research Study

By BILL KAUFMANN, CALGARY SUN

More than three-quarters of Canadian women seeking refuge from domestic abuse are in danger of being killed, states a study done by a University of Calgary social work expert.

Dr. Leslie Tutty said today she was stunned by the results that showed 77% of 368 women surveyed while being admitted to shelters across the country were under lethal threat.

“It’s a national embarrassment...it’s not getting better,” said Tutty, who conducted the survey for the YWCA in 10 cities including Calgary over eight months in 2005.

She said a danger assessment created by a female American doctor calculated that 77% of the women were in serious or extreme danger from their partners or those close to them.

It’s not a case, said Tutty, of the survey subjects exaggerating the threat to them.

“They were much more likely to minimize what’s going on in their relationships,” she said.

Alternatives to living with dangerous partners are often inadequate, said Tutty, whether it’s a lack of affordable housing or spaces in shelters.

“Almost as many women are turned away as who actually get into shelters,” she said.

“If these basic needs aren’t met, the women are much more likely to go back to their abusive relationships.”

Sixty-four Canadian women were slain by their partners in 2003, despite an increase in awareness of the issue, said Tutty.

Men’s advocates contend male victims of domestic abuse have been left in the lurch compared to women, but Tutty said there’s no comparison between the two.

“When you’re looking at this terroristic violence, it’s happening 10 to one against women,” she said.

The Salvation Army’s Centre of Hope in downtown Calgary say staffing shortages is forcing them to turn away would-be female clients, leaving half their women’s beds empty.

Some of those women end up at the Calgary Drop-In Centre, said the facility’s executive director Dermot Baldwin.

But he said the city has hindered the creation of homeless programs and affordable housing projects that would help women in crisis.

“This creates a serious dilemma for women and it’s not what we like seeing in a civil society,” said Baldwin.

Tutty said the study also found 52% of the women seeking refuge were emotionally mistreated and more than 40% sexually abused in their childhood.

2006-06-02