The drought is drying up the glue that bonds farm families, says Canadian Alliance MP Carol Skelton.
The federal politician, who represents the Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar constituency, said she has been hearing about the strain recently.
“It’s been brought to my attention quite a bit lately,” she said.
That is why Skelton introduced a private member’s bill in the House of Commons last month. While it is unlikely to be debated because there are hundreds presented for the House’s limited time, her motion says “the government should take measures to ensure that those involved in abusive relationships in rural areas have better access to safe houses and recovery programs.”
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Skelton said there are no safe homes in her rural area – or at least any that people are aware of. If there is one, the need for security means those who need it don’t know about it since it is not advertised. The shelters that do exist are in cities and larger towns and are difficult for farm women to access if they have no money and no transportation.
“From being a farm wife for 38 years, I’ve always lived in rural Saskatchewan. I’ve had concerns about this,” said the MP.
“If I’m a woman in that situation, what do I do?”
The lack of shelter is a problem, says Janet Hering, a farmer and assistant director of the six-year-old program in Humboldt, Sask., called Partners for Rural Family Support.
“There’s nothing” outside the cities, she said.
Her group is working on a family violence protocol for the central Saskatchewan region. It will run through the procedure when a woman wants to leave an abusive situation. Right now some of the program’s clients are sent to Saskatoon while others end up in the local hospital.
The latter cases are confidential and so are not counted in the abuse statistics, Hering said.
“Provincial authorities are as supportive as they can be but say there’s no money. They are aware of the need for cross-departmental programs funded by social services, health and justice.”
Hering said Partners has expanded its focus over the years from domestic violence to keeping families healthy. Some of its new issues are rural child care, a kids summer program and classes on anger management and self-esteem.
She said they mimic what family service bureaus in cities do. In rural Saskatchewan there are only Partners and the Estevan Rural Stress Centre. Both groups are continually in need of administrative money to operate.
The Saskatchewan Farm Stress Line’s directory lists safe houses that exist in larger towns such as Swift Current, North Battleford, Melfort, Kindersley, Yorkton, Fort Qu’Appelle, Meadow Lake and Lloydminster.
