North York Women’s Shelter’s Rachel Morrison discusses intimate partner violence in Canada and how to help

A woman in Canada experiences intimate partner violence every five minutes, and more than two in five women experience some form of it in their lifetime. Shoppers Foundation for Women’s Health is running its annual Giving Shelter fundraising campaign from Sept. 12 to Oct. 9 to support more than 300 local women’s shelters and programs across the country.

All Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix stores will raise funds and awareness during the campaign. Customers can round up their purchase total at checkout, with all donations supporting local women’s shelters and programs. From Sept. 25 to 27, Shoppers Foundation for Women’s Health will match in-store round-up donations, up to $150,000.

North York Women’s Shelter (NYWS) is among the organizations supported. It primarily provides emergency crisis shelter for women, trans and non-binary survivors of gender-based violence, as well as their children and pets.

Rachel Morrison, NYWS’s senior manager of fund development, said intimate partner violence can include psychological abuse, manipulation, coercive control, stalking, harassment and cyberstalking, financial control and abuse, and physical and sexual violence.

The shelter also offers a transitional program, a food program, safety planning, a 24-hour crisis line and other supports intended to help survivors recover emotionally and socially. NYWS has operated for 42 years and is always at capacity. When one family leaves, the next person who calls for help moves in. Last year, 132 survivors seeking services had to be turned away.

Morrison said demand remains high and described intimate partner violence as a real risk, particularly amid misogyny spread online and by people in power. She said NYWS receives about two-thirds of its annual operating budget from government support and must raise the remaining third from the community and donors.

Shoppers Foundation for Women’s Health has supported NYWS since 2001. That support helped the shelter open a new purpose-built facility in 2020. Morrison said the Giving Shelter campaign helps cover operating costs, allowing NYWS to answer crisis calls, support families at risk and provide shelter, food and other services to survivors.