Meet Donna. Donna is homeless. She camps by the river in Vancouver, Washington, along with several bags of belongings she pushes in a stroller. One night in early March, she returned to the river and began to lay out blankets.
Suddenly, two men approached and nearly beat her to death. They took her blankets, sleeping bag, and stroller. They beat her so badly they didn't even have to run away -- they just walked off. She lay there, bleeding profusely, until a woman found her and called 911. She was in the hospital for 3 weeks -- the picture above shows Donna with 3-week-old injuries.
In Vancouver, stories like this are common because there is no single women's shelter. There are a few beds here and there in family shelters, but the women are frequently raped and assaulted there and on the streets. They have no place safe to sleep or simply be.
The only men's shelter in town houses sex offenders, so the girls are sitting ducks. They are raped and beaten so often they don't even report it anymore, because they are victim-blamed when they do. To be raped and then have to suffer a rape exam and be dumped back on the streets is more than they can bear. Without someone to care, they turn to drugs so they don't have to feel or deal with the trauma. Instead, the women just live on the street, getting used like a carnival ride.
Our homeless & medically vulnerable are told they cannot be on private property or or public property, and if they continue to stay they will be ticketed, fined, or thrown in jail.
We tell a vulnerable community of people that it's illegal to be homeless, yet we give them no where to go. We simply tell them to leave. Action needs to be taken NOW, not weeks or months or years from now, to help these women.
Please sign the petition to City Council to urge them to consider creating a women's shelter so these women are not forced to continue to live in dangerous situations, fearful of the next predator.
Learn more about me and the homeless community in Vancouver here.
City Council, We the undersigned urge you to create a women's shelter in Vancouver, Washington. Women who live on the streets are frequently raped and assaulted, and have no where to go. This city desperately needs a safe space for vulnerable women.
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