Survivors of intimate partner and domestic violence turn first to friends and family, primarily, and then they turn to and can access supports through shelters and through women's advocates. One of the things that are so important about the work that shelters and women's advocates in sexual assault centres do is that they centre the identity, the strengths and the needs of the survivors. In that way, they recognize that the impact of violence is not an individual mental health problem. They recognize the impact of violence on that person and are able to work around mental health issues through that trauma- and violence-informed lens. Having that lens is very important. It's a very important start point for dealing with mental health problems, if you want to call them that, that are a result of experiencing violence and abuse.
On February 15th, 2022. See this statement in context.