Police-reported rates of violence against women are higher in small cities, towns and rural areas than metropolitan areas.
That’s according to the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services that stated yesterday that the province is investing $1.5 million in funding for rural frontline agencies.
That money is earmarked for increasing collaboration, strengthening service delivery, increasing and improving culturally relevant supports for Indigenous women, and reducing geographic and transportation barriers.
This funding builds on the government’s current investment of $174.5 million in funding for violence against women services.
Survivors of violence often need transportation to counselling and legal appointments, access to safe beds, and services that protect their privacy, particularly for those living in close-knit communities.
According to the Ministry, Indigenous women are three times more likely to be a victim of a violent crime and three times more likely to experience spousal violence than non-Indigenous women.
The funding is said to help promote awareness of local services for women and address service gaps in order to build a community that supports women in rural and remote towns who have experienced violence and human trafficking.
Janet Patterson, CAO for the District of Parry Sound Social Services says while this announcement is fresh, the previous funding issued by the province was split with the District of Muskoka.
“What we do know from this announcement is that our area has received about $21,000. We don’t know if its ongoing or one-time funding and that $21,000 is to be split between the District of Parry Sound and the District of Muskoka. That information still has to come out,” she said.
Patterson said that human trafficking is particularly an issue in many northern communities and having a full-system approach to human trafficking is something she would like to see develop. She also mentioned that under the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, there is a human trafficking division that is considering changing its methods to keep better track of the number of people who end up trafficked.
Currently, for the district, there is no tracking system in place to understand the magnitude of human trafficking victims that there actually are.
“We hope to work with the province and their human trafficking division where we can develop processes where we can get a broader understanding of how to approach that topic,” Patterson said.
“One of the things that we would hope for in this funding is dedicated funding that’s annualized and that it’s enough of an amount that we can truly make a difference in supporting Indigenous women. While we certainly appreciate this funding, the fact that it’s not a lot and having to split with Muskoka, it may be that our impact from this funding may not be as great as what we hoped it to be,” she noted.
The ministry says it will work collaboratively with local service agencies and partners to enable rural service providers to deliver targeted localized supports and implement projects that build positive outcomes for women living in or from rural communities.