The mother of a Morinville, Alta. woman who was murdered by her partner is alarmed by new statistics about domestic violence in Alberta.
Lynne Rosychuk’s daughter, Jessica Martel, was killed by her common-law husband in April 2009.
Jessica Martel shown in a Facebook photo. (Facebook)
Nine years later, women who use local shelters are facing an increased risk of ending up in a situation similar to Martel, according to data released Monday by the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters.Almost 65 per cent of women who completed danger assessments in 2017/18 were found to face “severe or extreme levels of danger,” up from 54 per cent in 2011/12.
But not all of those people can get the help they need, as 16,722 women, children and seniors were turned away from Alberta shelters at capacity in 2017/18.
Martel and her three children were denied access to shelters several times before her death, and were told they’d have to wait up to two months before there was room, Rosychuk said.
“When they finally make that decision to leave because they know how dangerous it is, they don’t have two months to wait,” she said.
First shelter in Sturgeon County area
Rosychuk is working to address capacity problems and the lack of resources available to domestic violence victims in rural communities.
The Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation is working to open a shelter, Jessie’s House, in Morinville by late 2019. It will be the first safe house in the Sturgeon County region.
“Jess and I had always talked about the dream of opening a safe haven for families to be able to come to, even before all this happened to her,” Rosychuk said.
“For us, it’s not just providing them a safe place to come, but it’s also giving them the opportunity to heal and learn some valuable tools to help them be successful.”
The 9,000 square-foot home is under construction, and is being built on land donated by town council.
When you’re experiencing domestic violence and you need to leave immediately.– Elyse Prince, Sturgeon Victim Services
It will be able to house about 30 people at a time, and will be open to domestic violence victims from across the province, including men, women, children and seniors.
The shelter will be a welcome addition to the community, as domestic violence is common in Sturgeon County, said Elyse Prince, program manager for Sturgeon Victim Services.
Victim services has taken on roughly 250 domestic violence cases this year — that’s about 50 per cent of their caseload, Prince said.
“When you’re experiencing domestic violence and you need to leave immediately, it’s important that there’s someone or somewhere that can take you in immediately,” she said. “Having to wait days or weeks to get into a shelter is just not ideal.”
Rosychuk said the community has been overwhelmingly supportive, donating about $1.6 million to the Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation. She hopes the foundation can raise another $3 million to cover the costs of operating Jessie’s House for the first three years.
Rosychuk said her daughter would be happy with the work being done in the community.
“Her heart’s pretty full right now,” she said. “Our hearts are pretty full right now.”