Love A Shelter: Annual Domestic Violence Awareness and Advocacy Campaign

February 14, 2024 

For the first two weeks of February, the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (ACWS) continued the annual awareness and advocacy campaign to bring attention to the ongoing violence against women and gender-diverse people. The “Love a Shelter” campaign highlighted the amazing work domestic violence shelters do to support those fleeing violence and abuse.
 

“Valentine’s Day is not just about candy and flowers and imagined romance,” said ACWS Executive Director Jan Reimer. “This is a chance to recognize and support individuals getting help in shelters across the province, as well as the hard-working staff who provide a safe space and resources needed to move forward.” 

Quick facts: 

In 2022-2023 shelters answered 59,215 calls for help, a 12.5% increase from last year and the highest number of calls ACWS has recorded in the past 10 years.    

8,483 individuals stayed in a domestic violence shelter, an increase of 19% from last year. This includes 4,852 women and seniors, 3,561 children, 53 men, and 17 who identified as gender-diverse.   

In 2022–2023, shelters were unable to grant 18,729 requests for admission that were by women and seniors due to the shelter having run out of space, not having space large enough to accommodate the family seeking admission, or not having the resources to safely meet the needs of survivors. 10,975 children would have accompanied these survivors had they been able to come into shelter. Together, this is a 26% increase from last year’s numbers.   

The danger to survivors is growing.  51% of survivors surveyed in domestic violence shelters believe their partner is capable of killing them, and 42% reported their partner has tried to strangle them – both of which are important predictors of future lethal violence.