Montreal non-profit to double shelter size due to increased reports of conjugal violence

A Montreal non-profit aimed at community outreach and prevention in relation to intimate partner violence, says they’ve recently had to double their shelter’s capacity from nine to 17 beds. Operating at maximum capacity, while sometimes sheltering up to 24 individuals at a time.

For 33 years, Shield of Athena has provided aid and services for women and children impacted by family violence with demand for their services continuing to rise. Now, they urgently need more space and funding with the organization adding a fourth point of service — a 17 apartment Second Step Shelter that is still under construction.

The Second Step Shelter has been in development since 2010 with numerous roadblocks impacting the opening of its doors.

“The shelters are presently under construction, what does that tell you about the necessity of the services,” asked executive director of Shield of Athena, Melpa Kamateros. “We are an essential service, shelters in Quebec are there to safeguard the lives of women and children and the most vulnerable.”

“When you go home, you look at the houses in your neighborhood and you count them and you know that behind every fourth door, statistically speaking, there’s a case of conjugal violence.”

Kamateros says there has been a big push in Quebec to establish Second Step Shelters, which are places where women with children can stay for an extended period of time, rather than an emergency shelter. She adds that thousands of cases are dealt with at a monthly basis.

Kamateros says for kids, the impacts could last a lifetime with 40 per cent of the youth’s ages at the shelter ranging from newborns to four-years-old.

Throughout the years many youth have expressed themselves artistically, showing a grim reality that many in Quebec face.

“We take the women with the children, they’re part of the package, right? I mean, we get a lot of single women as well,” she said. “[But] when there are children as part of that package of violence, there are after-effects to what the victim has lived.”

According to Shield of Athena, one in four women have reported intimate partner violence, the highest age group of victims are women between the ages of 25 to 35.

Since the beginning of the year, femicides in Québec have doubled in comparison to 2023.

“It’s like, you know, you picture an iceberg and you only see the point and you know that under that point there’s another two-thirds of glacier,” said Kamateros.

Kamateros said the most horrendous statistic is underreporting, with one in every three cases being reported and only 30 per cent of the cases coming to light.

Kamateros said their services are offered in 17 languages, with many victims not knowing French or English, this has become a concern with the language restrictions in Quebec. She adds that if one person can access services in the province but another cannot, that there is “a basic inequality of access in society that has to be addressed.”

Most recently, 29-year-old Guangmei Ye was murdered in Candiac after alleged death threats from her partner.

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READ MORE: Woman murdered in Candiac after alleged death threats, partner arrested

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Kamateros says men are also victims, calling for more education for youth and encouraging Quebec to enforce a law for conjugal violence to be considered a criminal act.  

“[And] we also need a law that puts conjugal violence in perspective, men are part of the issue they have to have a say in this,” she said. “Not all men are violent.”

Offering three points of service in Laval and Montreal, to help offset expansion costs, the non-profit will be hosting a fundraiser on November 23 in hopes of providing a new safe haven for victims.

“There is a safe place for you,” she said. “[And] if you or anybody you know is in danger, call 911 and report the incident, there are safe places.”