BCIFV home > Media Release > December 5, 2003

For Immediate Release: December 5, 2003
Contact: Penny Bain, Executive Director, BCIFV
phone: 604.669.7055, 1.877.755.7055, or
pbain@bcifv.org or www.bcifv.org

Media Release:
December 6 Anniversary Draws Attention to Impact of Welfare Cuts on Abused Women.

Every year, as December 6 approaches, social service organizations attempt to bring meaning to the senseless tragedy at École Polytechnique by directing attention to violence against women in all its forms.

This year, the Board of the BC Institute Against Family Violence joins others in expressing concern that the changes to social assistance eligibility due to come into effect on April 1, 2004 will increase women's financial dependence on abusive partners, often leaving them with an inhumane choice: violence or homelessness for themselves and their children.

Research indicates that abusive men often restrict an abused woman's access to finances in order to maintain control of her actions. Research shows that economic independence is the greatest determinant of entering into or being able to leave an abusive relationship. Research further indicates that child abuse occurs in a home where there is partner violence in up to 70% of cases.

If an abused woman is unemployed, her inability to obtain or maintain social assistance therefore acts as a barrier to her obtaining a safe living environment for herself and her children. The Provincial Government's plans to deny or reduce social assistance to recipients who have been on assistance for more than two years out of five and cannot prove their eligibility for an exemption will only make the situations faced by abused women even more untenable than other recent cuts have done.

These cuts include: cut to benefits for single parents of $43 per month; reduction to shelter allowances for families of three or more by between $55 and $75; cuts to many work entry benefits; cuts to child care subsidies; elimination of the earnings exemption and child support exemption.

It is estimated that single parents have lost benefits totaling up to $400 per month, a significant sum for a parent supporting children on as little as $1000 to $1500 per month.

"We share the concerns of other social service organizations that these cuts will leave abused women without the means to meet basic needs, including safe housing for themselves and their children," says Penny Bain, Executive Director of the BC Institute Against Family Violence.

"In light of the efforts each December 6 to address issues of violence against women, we urge the Provincial Government to review the implications of these cuts as they may result in further harm to abused women and their children."

For more information, contact Penny Bain, Executive Director of the BC Institute Against Family Violence at 669-7055
or 1 877-755-7055, pbain@bcifv.org or www.bcifv.org.

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