Phil Warren / CC
A number of women’s shelters are now providing cell phones to domestic abuse victims, thanks to a partnership with Rogers Communications.
Kristal LeBlanc from the Beausejour Family Crisis Resource Centre in Shediac says pandemic has amplified existing situations in a number of ways.
LeBlanc says isolation has also contributed to a spike in the number of domestic abuse and domestic homicide across the country.
She says the pandemic has also made it more difficult to communicate with clients.
“Sometimes you would book an appointment maybe with a victim and not hear from her so then you think is it maybe that he’s monitoring her phone, or he was supposed to be out getting groceries that day and now she can’t safely make the call or has she been murdered. So you feel a little bit helpless,” she says.
Rogers wanted to help by covering the cost of phones and service for victims.
LeBlanc says the donated phones will ensure women have a way of getting in touch with the shelter.
She says it also provides a gateway to the outside world to help clients break free and to gain and maintain independence.
“To secure housing longer term so that they have a cell phone number to call landlords, are they looking for a job once they leave the relationship so it’s a phone number that they can give on resumes that they wouldn’t have had before,” says LeBlanc.
Complimentary phones and service were also provided to a number of other shelters, including the Crossroads for Women in Moncton.
