More women with disabilities unhoused due to abuse, violence

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Women with disabilities are more likely to be forced into homelessness because of violence or abuse, according to a new report that looks at housing inequities in Canada.

Sixty-three per cent of women with disabilities who experienced homelessness said it was because of violence, compared with 54 per cent of women without disabilities, said a joint statement from The Canadian Human Rights Commission and the federal housing advocate.

The figure was no surprise to Vicky Levack, a spokesperson for the Disability Rights Coalition of Nova Scotia.

Women with disabilities face a higher risk of abuse or violence, often at the hands of those closest to them: their caregivers, their romantic partners or both, said Levack, who has cerebral palsy. Few shelters are accessible or can provide care, so if women have to flee, there aren’t many emergency housing options available.

“Even if I could get into the (shelter), which I can’t anyway, but even if I could, there’s no one to take care of me,” Levack said in an interview Wednesday. “If I had to flee, there’s nowhere to go.”

“They’re sitting ducks,” she added.

The data released Tuesday were compiled primarily from Statistics Canada, as part of an ongoing effort to monitor whether Canada is meeting its human rights obligations under domestic and international law, said Carleen McGuinty, a manager with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

The report said people with disabilities are more likely to miss a rent or mortgage payment and fall into homelessness because of financial issues than people without disabilities. They are also more likely to be living in accommodations with health-threatening problems, such as mould or pest infestations.

Those problems were worse for Indigenous people with disabilities, compared with non-Indigenous people with disabilities.

Nearly 40 per cent of people with disabilities said they don’t get proper help to live independently, and 16 per cent said they didn’t feel safe at home.

The findings add to a growing body of evidence showing that people with disabilities in Canada are being denied their basic human rights, the release said.

“They are overrepresented in all aspects of inadequate housing and homelessness,” it said.

The picture painted by the data is incredibly frustrating, McGuinty said, noting that about 27 per cent of Canadians identified as having a disability in 2022, according to Statistics Canada.

“That means more than a quarter of the population is experiencing these really difficult housing situations and their rights just aren’t being met,” McGuinty said.

In Nova Scotia, where Levack lives, that figure is 38 per cent, the highest in the country.

The statistics in Tuesday’s release hit home for Levack. She was forced to spend most of her 20s in a nursing home, a traumatizing experience she is still recovering from, she said. She has been abused and sexually assaulted.

She won a marathon legal battle against the Nova Scotia government in 2021, and was finally able to move into her own apartment in late 2022.

People with disabilities are being left out of important discussions and planning about housing, despite their risks and needs, Levack said.

“We’re often ignored — not even ignored, because ignored means you’re actively doing something to not talk about us,” she said. “More often, we’re forgotten about, like we don’t even exist.”

Tuesday’s findings will be part of a larger report submitted to the United Nations in March, when the international organization will be reviewing Canada’s record on upholding the human rights of people with disabilities, McGuinty said.

“We’re going to be urging the UN to ask Canada to really take a hard look at this, and to take action, because things are dire,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2024.

Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press