CAUTION: This story contains details that some readers may find disturbing.
She remembers being dragged by her hair through broken glass covering the floor of her apartment. She was reaching out to find anything to hold on to, but there was nothing to grab.
It was one of the worst attacks she endured at the hands of her partner.
“He just was throwing me around like a rag doll because he’s much bigger than me,” she said in a recent interview with CBC News. “And I just remember seeing a lot of broken things in the house.”
The woman, whose identity CBC News is protecting because she fears for her safety, survived a case of intimate partner violence that she says could have ended in her death.
Though court records show her ex has been charged with a number of offences, including multiple counts of assault, her fight to get back on her feet hasn’t been easy.
When she ended the relationship, she sought housing support specifically designed by the Nova Scotia government to help survivors of gender-based violence. But she was repeatedly denied, and it took six months and advocacy from multiple organizations and her MLA’s office for the woman’s application to finally be accepted.
In a province that has declared intimate partner violence an epidemic and has seen eight people killed since October whose deaths are connected to their male partners, the woman wants to see support come faster for people fleeing domestic violence.
Susan Leblanc, the MLA for Dartmouth North, advocated for the woman on her months-long journey to be accepted to the program. She says this case illustrates a larger problem.
“The fact that these barriers exist at all for people, anyone generally trying to navigate the provincial systems, but especially for people who are living with gender-based violence and who are looking for a way out,” said Leblanc, who is a member of the Opposition NDP.
‘You’re just a number’
In the summer of 2024, the woman was still living in the same apartment, which she said was in poor condition and unsafe.
She was off work, diagnosed with PTSD and undergoing therapy for the trauma she had endured in the relationship. She said after her partner’s arrest, she had been told by victim services that a police risk-assessment questionnaire had revealed she was at a high risk of being killed by him.
But the woman’s bills were piling up and she needed financial help to find a new place to live where her ex couldn’t find her.
She began working with Halifax domestic violence shelter Bryony House, housing support organization Welcome Housing, and Leblanc’s office. She was referred to the province’s survivors of gender-based violence housing benefit, which provides up to $1,400 in monthly housing support for at least a year.
CBC News reviewed multiple emails in which Leblanc’s office followed up regarding the woman’s application, and employees of the province’s Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing explained why the woman did not qualify.
Reasons included that she was still residing in the same apartment since she hadn’t yet found a new place to live and she was already receiving a different rent supplement of around $600 — roughly half the amount of the gender-based violence subsidy.
“In her particular case, she didn’t have enough money to pay the rent and so was looking at an eviction,” Leblanc said. “But it could be any situation where people basically don’t leave a violent situation because of the wait time … which is very dangerous.”
Leblanc said over a number of months, through “a series of emails and phone calls and advocacy,” the situation was resolved. The woman started receiving the dedicated gender-based violence support in January and is now living in a new apartment.
“I think that the way the system is built is that you definitely need people to advocate for you,” the woman said. “And otherwise you’re just a number.”
Housing department ‘concerned’ by woman’s story
An interview request for Colton LeBlanc, the minister in charge of housing, was declined.
A spokesperson said in an email that the Department of Growth and Development, which now encompasses housing, was “concerned to learn of the difficulties experienced by the individual referenced.”
“While we strive to provide timely access to support, we recognize that in this case, the process took longer than it should have,” wrote spokesperson Amy Wagg.
Wagg said it takes one to two weeks on average to approve a complete application, and the average monthly payment is $1,110.
According to the department, since the program was launched last July, 245 people have received the benefit, 74 applications remain in progress, and 47 have not been approved “due to ineligibility, incomplete documentation or already receiving support through other housing programs.”
In March, Susan Leblanc brought up the woman’s experience at the House of Assembly.
Premier Tim Houston responded by saying, “We will certainly take that back and make sure that the program is meeting the needs that it’s designed to. And this certainly would sound like an example where there might be a miss.”
When asked what changes have been put into effect since this case was brought to light, Wagg mentioned changes that have been implemented at various times since the program was introduced, including providing “more flexibility to accommodate individual, unique circumstances,” establishing regular communication with referral agencies and advocates, and introducing a dedicated case manager for the program to ensure consistency in approach.
