Kanadisches Frauenhaus Hort der Gewalt und "tickende Zeitbombe"

Abused women living in a YWCA facility in North Toronto say they've been forced to share showers with transsexual tenants and cope with frequent, violent behaviour from others living there.

Residents in the four-storey residence and shelter for victims of domestic abuse told the Sun repeated complaints about physical assault, harassment and verbal abuse have been downplayed, if not outright ignored by the YWCA.

"One woman on the third floor was wielding a knife to other people living on the floor and it took three years to evict her," a tenant told the Sun. "They tell us we have to show compassion."

YWCA staff have refused to call police following complaints of violent altercations, and told residents they have to call authorities themselves, according to women who live in the building.

In one case, they said, support workers told an attacker to flee before the police arrived. The workers waited three hours to contact the victim and accused her of refusing help when she was too upset to talk with them, according to complainants.

(…) "Our big issue is we had a woman who was attacked four months ago. It was in the cafeteria but a woman just snapped and started beating on her."

The residents brought up a petition of 38 signatures out of 70 tenants to the YWCA at a meeting, but said nothing was done.

"Everyone who signed that has told me a story of some sort of abuse they've faced," one tenant said. "The YWCA is allowing this abuse to take place and are hiding behind the big Y. They are the enablers and it disgusts me to no means to know that (the YWCA) is for women -- but only if you have mental health issues or are substance abusers or are beaten then they take care of you, because they get funding."

(…) The women's organization said the YWCA offers mediation, but the tenants said that it doesn't work because it's not between two equal parties.

"If someone's punched you or harassed you, how can you mediate between the victim and the aggressor?" a tenant said. "This is not a realistic form of resolving the issue. If you turn down mediation, they say, 'We tried to help you, but you didn't want to listen. Maybe this isn't the place for you.' "

Some tenants plan on moving out in the next few months after staying less than a year. "This place feels like a prison and is a ticking timebomb," one tenant said.

Die Toronto Sun berichtet.

Natürlich wäre es zutiefst frauenfeindlich zu überdenken, ob ein Frauenhaus wirklich immer den besten Lösungsversuch für häusliche Gewalt darstellt.