Mothers should have a safe place to go to with their children

In April 2016, I embarked on an 8,000-kilometer walk across Canada to:
1- Raise Canadians' awareness of the reality of Inuit women and children in Nunavik, Quebec;
2- Raise funds to build a safe house for the children of a Nunavik village in northern Quebec.

To date, I have covered five thousand five-hundred and eighty-two kilometres in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, parts of Ontario and Quebec.

No Child Should Take the Long Way Home is seeking solutions to counter the number of placements Inuit children are subjected to and to help the mothers recover their children. On September 26th, I had covered 5582 kilometres. The next lap from Rossport, Ontario (2418) should bring me to the end of the 8000-kilometre journey.

Home overcrowding in the North

1- There is a significant problem of housing shortages in Nunavik and Nunavut. On top of overcrowding, housing is often poorly built, unhealthy and overcrowded;

2- Overcrowding is an important structural problem with significant effects on the psychosocial and health problems affecting the entire Nunavik region and their inhabitants;

3- Until construction and renovation of housing in Nunavik is sufficient to "catch up" on the gap and meet the current and future needs of the people in the area, overcrowding and promiscuity will continue to play a role in the deterioration of mental health of Inuit in Nunavik, and it will continue to lead to problems of substance abuse, physical and sexual abuse, suicides, poor academic achievement and lack of motivation, and transmission of diseases such as tuberculosis, which you know has long been under control in our Western world;

4- The number of suicides has not dropped and crime is on the rise. In addition, drug and alcohol use continues to be a major cause of emergency child placement, as we observed in Hudson Bay last summer. Overcrowding in housing is not unfamiliar and is a major problem that exacerbates social problems.

5- In addition to the high cost of living and low family income, Nunavik communities are facing a deep housing crisis. An estimated 68% of Inuit in the north live in overcrowded housing compared to 7% of the total Canadian population;

6- The homelessness situation based on lack of housing and lack of economic security exposes women to violence and other forms of victimization. Homeless women are not so visible in Nunavik, especially considering that they often use relative homelessness and insecure accommodation when they are beaten. Most homeless people in Nunavik represent mothers and children. Overcrowding results in higher levels of domestic violence and abuse, placing single mothers and children in vulnerable situations;

7- During my time in the North, I lived in a large 2 bedroom apartment and all the non-Inuit workers occupied beautiful and clean homes in the same community. That is to say, we use spaces that could benefit them. I understand the need to house workers who come from outside, but I find it unfair to see the Inuit piled one on top of the other to make us comfortable. The same dwelling that I occupied in the North would have sheltered 15-20 people while I lived there alone. Social inequalities arise even in the area of housing.

The Inuit face considerable challenges

Modernity may be just one click away, but Inuit face immeasurable challenges:
A) Inequalities in the treatment of justice make it difficult for community members, particularly women, to mobilize to bring about change to their situation.
B) Housing shortages seriously affect women who live in invisible homelessness for fear of losing their children.
C) Given the shortage of housing and the consequent overcrowding, which exerts enormous pressure on families already struggling with everyday life, shortage of housing and overcrowding puts pressure on families.
D) Families face a very high level of food insecurity and of poverty. So many children do not have their own bed, let alone their own room, and go to bed the empty stomach.
E) Their social problems are complex and families need new tools. Overcrowding in housing is clearly a major problem that exacerbates social problems. Communities need multifunctional facilities.  Moreover, the overcrowding of many social housing units results in a degree of use for which these dwellings have not been designed. All these factors contribute to the premature deterioration of housing.
F) Too often, services for crime victims in the North operate in isolation of each other. Lacking a systematic and coordinated approach, efforts to prevent victimization in Inuit communities are hindered by gaps in services; inequitable distribution of resources; burnout and loss of trained staff; an absence of training and support for front-line workers; and incomplete program evaluation.

The basic needs of the Inuit are not being met

Many aspects of their living conditions do not help to make communities healthy. Modern Inuit life forces them to live in a real ghetto. It is not by choice. There is a severe shortage of housing. Therefore, they have difficulty to cope. Sixty years ago, they were sharing space in nomadic communities of about 50 persons. Despite investments of the Government of Quebec, housing needs are important in communities. At ten social housing projects per year, it is difficult to see the end of the difficult living conditions they bear.

In Nunavik, these needs are estimated at 1030 units and 62% of the families are estimated to live in a context of overcrowding.Their basic needs are not being met, yet they are expected to be in harmony in their homes and their children to succeed in school. The reports of the health and services network health problems in the population which will continue to grow very rapidly speak eloquently of their distress. Substance abuse problems are reported among all age groups and at an even earlier age, mental health problems, and behavioural problems. In addition, the suicide rate is the highest in the province.

During my working time in the North in 2009-2010, I found that many children in the northern communities were having negative consequences when their mothers were beaten, abused and worse. This would warrant a whole chapter but suffice it to say that the children suffer a lot from the contextual situation in their homes.

The mothers who are unable to protect themselves have difficulty in protecting their children. Moreover, in the court of law, they are often discriminated against without understanding their distress and the issues related to their parental role.

Even when they are not responsible for violence against their children, mothers often "lose" in the system because they are accused of not being able to ensure and maintain the security and protection of their children.

The purpose of the project No Child Should Take the Long Way Home is to empower mothers in communities to become safer, to be aware of their legal rights, to understand the risk factors leading the removal of their children. Safety standards for women and for children must be designed in services offered to the population of isolated communities.

Taking refuge with neighbours sometimes contributes to endanger the children even more

In order not to lose their children, they take the risk of taking refuge with neighbours which contribute to endangering the children even more. They should have a safe place to go to with their children that do not involve youth protection.

Lack of services and shelter is a constant for all women who seek to escape from violence

To leave when violence occurs, emergency shelters must provide a place where a woman can escape, ideally with her children. It's not sufficient for her to have a place to go, it has to be and remain safe and contribute to her sense of knowing she will know her rights in the face of what is ahead.

To move her family, even in the community, she needs adequate, affordable housing where she and her family can move. The lack of second-stage housing is evident in small and large communities in Nunavik (I haven't witnessed the housing situation in Nunavut, but I suspect it is similar). In addition to the lack of affordable housing, this shortage often forces women to make difficult choices when they leave the existing shelters in five communities out of fourteen communities. For too many women, this means returning to a situation of violence and continuing to remain in a situation of violence.

In communities accessible only by air, women fleeing to a shelter must ensure a flight out of their community. Often, women will leave their children behind, thinking that the children will be better protected. However, many families struggle to provide security and protection to their children, but they fail because of the parents' personal problems: overcrowding, poverty, underdevelopment and unequal employment opportunities.

Too many placements out of home base

As a result, many of the children must be placed with foster families. The high rate of accidents and trauma related to risky behaviour, not to mention the loss and deep sadness experienced by families and friends, disrupts children who are moved from foster families to foster families.

In 2009-2010, I recorded cases of children displaced from 19 times to 56 times between the ages of 0-6 years in and out of the territory. The lack of safe and adequate housing in Nunavik contributes to the deterioration of the physical and mental health of Inuit children and members of the communities and is a major obstacle to the development of the region.

Many reasons for the children to be at risk

In Quebec, it is considered that the child's safety and development are compromised when his or her parent "does not take the necessary steps to stop the situation". You must understand that the lack of housing does not offer optimum conditions for mothers to perform their parental role. It’s hard to take the necessary steps to protect the children when there are no options other than youth protection services.

The expectations of youth protection workers are often unattainable. Being able to predict angry outbursts of one or the other inhabitant among the 15 to 20 people in the dwelling to check the risk that the safety and development of a child are not compromised is to assume an incredible sagacity. To ask that a woman leaves her violent partner is also impractical since they are so isolated. A woman cannot just pack a suitcase and go. It is costly and what is she to do with the children?

In addition, if a mother wants to prevent the risk of violence and neglect, the child must be able to go to a safe place and the mother has to be sure the child will be safe. This means that the mother can never go away, visit a neighbour without her children. Although I would never condone violence, that's too much to ask!

It is probably provocative to say that shortcomings due to lack of personnel in the implementation of social services and programs for parents, families and young children have a significant impact on all members of the Inuit society. Because there were not enough workers, people fall through the cracks more often than not.

My purpose is to say that the provision of protective services is in fact completely outdated. There is not a sufficient number of workers, they are not trained enough and generally, they view the people as enemies. So, it is very punitive in its approach.

The perceived indifference of frontline workers by Inuit has many repercussions

This, coupled with a lack of public confidence in institutions, largely explains the high turnover rate among Inuit and non-Inuit workers in this sector and the rate of temporary investments.

In recent years, the Inuit have made clear their concerns about the youth welfare system

The Inuit women’s association, the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission share many of these concerns. As an engaged citizen, I am concerned about the scale and severity of the cases, but I am also concerned that the impact of the many interventions by youth welfare services and the high rate of temporary and long-term institutional and family placement in foster care are greatly damaging to the children, to the mothers and to all the members of the Inuit communities.

Placements impact Inuit children as much as did the residential schools

The Inuit themselves recognize that many children are at present at risk of neglect and abuse and that measures must be taken to protect them. Many expressed their dismay at the fact that many parents, extended family members, and the community are unable to meet the critical protection needs of some children in the region. One could argue that having to take so many people in each household makes it impossible to welcome a child who is at risk in his own home, thereby the need for safe houses where the children can be protected and cared for in their own communities.

Petition to empower the mothers and to reduce placements of the children

Like all that matters, we have to make the connections with what we can all do to help. The petition I carry with me at all times is to be given to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the hopes to restore dignity but also their rights to stable families and harmonious communities. Policies and practices that reflect longstanding and deeply embedded mother-blaming culture and father invisibility ideologies which shape child protection systems must be updated by taking into consideration the knowledge base of the Inuit to raise their children.