NEWS RELEASE posted on March 30, 2011 by Harsha W.

Followup on Safe Housing and Safe Services for Women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

Safe Shelters, Safe Housing, Safe Services

by DTES Power of Women Group

* Read more about “No More Stolen Sisters: Safe Shelters, Safe Housing, Safe Services for Women in the DTES" here including THREE easy and important ways to support by clicking here.

March 30, 2011

Minister of Housing Rich Coleman
Premier of BC Christy Clark
Shayne Ramsey, CEO of BC Housing
Missing Women’s Inquiry Commissioner Wally Oppal

RE: Followup on Safe Housing and Safe Services for Women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

We hope that you are well aware that since January 2011 we, a coalition of women-serving organizations, have been raising the urgent issue of women's safety in the Downtown Eastside. This has come in response to a number of recently reported sexual assaults in Downtown Eastside shelters.

Over two months we have written four letters and made a dozen phone calls. We were shocked that all four of our correspondences have been ignored. In fact, one of your representatives inappropriate comment “Come on, shit happens, look at Rwanda, look at Libya” leads us to believe that BC Housing does not consider women's safety a priority within their funded facilities.

We have received no firm commitment to action on any one of the three issues we have presented to you. According to BC Housing, the safety of women in co-ed shelters is a priority, yet we have seen no commitment to centering women’s safety in BC Housing contracts with service, shelter or housing providers. Inaccurate media reports, reposted by BC Housing on their website, suggest that there are ‘several’ 24-hour low shelters for women. This is misleading. As BC Housing is well aware there is NO 24-hour low barrier women’s drop-in or shelter. We are dismayed at the lack of responsibility about the ongoing violence committed against women in the Downtown Eastside. We currently have a provincial public commission of inquiry due to attitudes like this.

Last week on Tuesday March 22, when a delegation of women from the Downtown Eastside and women’s organizations arrived at BC Housing offices, we were met with over thirty police officers. We learnt that BC Housing had shut down operations for the day. We were shocked that such a heavy-handed and confrontational approach was taken.

As we were proceeding to leave BC Housing, we got news – not from BC Housing directly – that a women’s drop-in was being opened by Atira on March 28th. We remain surprised that BC Housing did not alert us to this beforehand and the timing of this announcement remains suspect to us. Importantly, the opening of Sisterspace does NOT meet any one of our demands as it is not a 24-hour drop-in, does not have any shelter beds, and has only limited space and amenities for women.

We also seek clarification from Minister Coleman about who at BC Housing is responsible for responding to us on this matter. Since BC Housing CEO Shayne Ramsey’s marriage to CEO of Atira Property Management Janice Abott creates a conflict of interest and Ramsey is reported as recusing himself from any Atira-related decisions, we are expecting Minister Coleman to communicate with us directly.

At a time when there is an inquiry into police and government inaction and systemic oppression in the investigations of missing and murdered women, we find it inexcusable that sexual assaults in this neighbourhood continue to be normalized. Women should not have to “choose” between the indignity of homelessness and being warehoused in shelters, and the high-risk of assault associated with both.

We have been left with no choice but to continue our front-line work and to build a community-centred response to sexual violence in the Downtown Eastside. We view BC Housing’s subtle insinuations about funding and statistics for the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre Shelter as an underhanded attempt to silence us. Please let this be clear: we will not remain silent or complicit in the ongoing violence against women in this neighbourhood.

To reiterate, we are calling for the following three things, based on a needs assessment with hundreds of DTES resident women. We believe these commitments can and should be met in a timely manner, especially since the Cold Wet Weather Shelters will be closing on April 30th.

1)    A 24 hours low-barrier women-only (includes all self-identified women) drop-in space and shelter in the Downtown Eastside, ideally on Hastings Street between Main and Jackson. The establishment and operation of this service should be done through an accountable process including a transparent call for tenders and in consultation with community organizations and DTES resident women.

2)    Housing for homeless women and children with at least 100 new units to be made available immediately.  This is in addition to the approximately 100 housing units at Sorella’s which are scheduled to be opened on May 1 2011 but are already full.

3)    Clear provincial standards for women’s safety in co-ed shelters to be implemented immediately in all existing and new shelters, including but not limited to:
•    Women-only facilities in co-ed shelters with adequate women-only beds and services within those spaces.
•    Women staff and training for all staff by women’s organizations experienced in issues of sexual and gender violence. Shelter contractors must demonstrate the ability to ensure safety and security for women shelter users and all staff must be able to demonstrate an understanding of gender inequalities that contribute to violence against women.

We are supported by the following organizations in this call: Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, DTES Power of Women Group, WISH Drop-In Centre Society, Walk4Justice, Battered Women’s Support Services, Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House, PACE Society, Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council, Vancouver Status of Women, Oxfam Canada, No One Is Illegal Vancouver, Vancouver Action, Council of Canadians, Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity Society, Aboriginal Women’s Action Network, West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund, Streams of Justice, Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement, Carnegie Community Action Project, Purple Thistle Centre, W2 Community Media Arts Society, Life Skills Centre, Ending Violence Association of BC, Portland Hotel Society, Pivot Legal Society, UBC Centre for Race Autobiography Gender and Age Studies, Interfaith Institute for Justice, Peace and Social Movements, Women Against Violence Against Women, Aboriginal Front Door, Feb 14th Annual Women’s Memorial March Committee, Lookout Society, Vancouver Catholic Worker, Crossroads Community Project

We look forward to your response.

Signed,
Kate Gibson WISH Drop-In Centre 604-669-9474
Harsha Walia DTES Power of Women Group 778-885-0040
Alice Kendall Downtown Eastside Women's Centre 604-436-4594
Angela Marie MacDougall Battered Women's Support Services 604-808-0507
Marlene George, Chair of Feb 14th Women’s Memorial March Committee 604-665-3005