Kitikmeot needs crisis shelters

Cambridge Bay has the only women’s shelter in the Kitikmeot, and it is not enough to help victims of violence “break the cycle of abuse,” Cambridge Bay MLA Keith Peterson told the legislative assembly last Thursday.

The Alison McAteer House in Yellowknife used to take victims from the region, but is no longer doing so, Peterson said.

The Kugluktuk women’s shelter is closed due to lack of funds, said Kugluktuk MLA Joe Allen Evyagotailak.

The women’s delegation at the Kitikmeot Inuit Association’s general meeting last month made an impassioned plea for the GN to open or re-open crisis shelters in every Kitikmeot community.

“If we ignore abuse, the victims may sink even further with unhealthy behaviors,” Peterson said.