Manitoba Fact Sheet

The Transition Home Survey is conducted on a biennial basis as part of the federal government's Family Violence Initiative. The 2003/04 questionnaire was sent to 543 shelters in Canada known to be providing residential services for women victims of abuse and their children. Responses were received from 473 shelters (87%).

The questionnaire was sent to 27 facilities in Manitoba and responses were received from 85% of the shelters.

There were 4,952 admissions of women and dependant children reported from April 1, 2003 to March 31, 2004¹

A profile of residents, April 14, 2004

In a snapshot taken on April 14, 2004 , there were 201 residents in shelters in Manitoba : 47% (95) were women and 53% (106) were dependant children.

95% (90) of women residing in shelters on April 14, 2004 , were victims of abuse and the remainder were admitted for reasons other than abuse, such as housing problems. Of those admitted for abuse,² 100% were fleeing physical abuse 90% psychological abuse, 62% financial abuse, 59% threats, 41% sexual abuse, and 38% harassment.

59% of women escaping abusive situations were admitted with their children; 72% (71) of these children were under 10 years of age.

57% of women with parental responsibilities, who were admitted for abuse, indicated that they were also protecting their children from witnessing the abuse of their mother, 24% from psychological abuse, 45% from physical abuse, 40% from threats, and 13% from neglect.³

61% of abused women indicated that their spouse or partner was the abuser, 19% were abused by a former spouse or partner, 4% by someone from a current or ex-dating relationship, 2% by a relative, 1% by a friend or acquaintance and for 12%, the relationship was unknown.

The most common sources of referral for women residing in shelters on April 14 th , 2004 , were: self-referral (35%), police or RCMP (15%), and another community agency (11%).⁴

37% of women residing in shelters on April 14, 2004 , had been there before. 60% of repeat clients had been there once in the last year, 31% had been there 2 to 4 times.⁵

Among women leaving the shelter on snapshot day 38% left for another agency, 10% left for new accommodations without their spouse or partner and another 5% returned home without their spouse or partner. It was unknown where a third of women were going to reside. 14% returned to their spouse or partner.

38% of abused women had reported police intervention for the most recent violent incident and, in nearly three-quarters (74%) of these reported cases charges were laid against the abuser.

A profile of shelters, 2003/04

87% of shelters served urban/suburban populations, 70% served rural/village populations and 74% served reserve populations.

2 shelters (9%) were located on a reserve, 2 were operated by a band council and 1 was owned by a band council.

All agencies provided advocacy and the majority of shelters offered the following in-house services to women residents: group counselling (96%), individual short-term counselling (91%), and housing referral (91%).

Facilities also provided in-house services to non-resident women in need of assistance. These services included individual short-term counselling (83%), advocacy (74%), services for aboriginal women (70%), crisis telephone lines (65%), and housing referral (65%).

In-house services offered to resident children included individual counselling (87%), programs for child witnesses or victims of abuse (83%), outdoor recreation spaces (83%), group counselling (78%), and culturally sensitive programs for aboriginal children (74%).

Almost three-quarters (74%) of shelters reported at least one building entrance that was wheelchair accessible, 61% reported having bedrooms that were wheelchair accessible and 57% reported having bathrooms that were wheelchair accessible. 22% offered services to people who are deaf or hearing impaired and 17% offered services to people who are blind or visually impaired.

23 facilities reported providing a total of 747 outreach⁶ hours per week.

Footnotes

1. The precise reporting period may vary. Shelters were asked to provide information for the twelve-month period ending March 31, 2004 or their own twelve month fiscal period.

2. Totals do not add to 100% due to multiple responses.

3. Totals do not add to 100% due to multiple responses. 'Women with parenting responsibilities' include women admitted to shelters with their children and women admitted without their children. However, it is not known if women admitted without their children had custody of those children at the time of admittance.

4. 'Others' includes friend or acquaintance, caregiver and authority figure.

5. Totals do not add to 100% due to multiple responses.

6. Outreach work included supplying information, accompanying victims to court, meeting with clients to discuss possibilities/options, and participating in drop-in centres. While shelters varied in the number of hours of outreach provided, the provincial average was 32 hours per week.