Safe havens for victims such as the Beausejour Family Crisis Resource Centre are considered essential and have remained open during the pandemic.
Over the last few months, many of these facilities have reported a higher demand for services.
CEO Kristal LeBlanc says this period of time has been exceptionally challenging.
“We’ve seen a drastic spike in domestic violence cases. (This has) a lot to do with the fact that during the pandemic, people were very much stuck in their homes. For many, their home is their safe haven but that’s not true for victims of domestic violence… it’s even more of a prison than it is on a regular day,” she notes.
LeBlanc says the Centre is now seeing an increase in mental health services for children and youth who’ve been out of their routines for months and are preparing to go back to school.
She adds some children may not like school because they get bullied a lot while others are feeding off their parents who are afraid of getting sick.
