Vancouver crisis line extends hours for FIFA World Cup and sees a 20% call increase
While much of the conversation around Vancouver hosting the FIFA World Cup has been about tourists, business, and — of course — soccer, some local organizations are trying to remind people of another critical aspect: gender safety.
Last Wednesday, the Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) extended the hours on its crisis support line to 24 hours a day and seven days a week for the duration of the tournament. Normally, this line operates from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.
Meanwhile, Good Night Out Vancouver is working directly within nightlife and hospitality settings to help create safer venues and experiences.
In a press release, BWSS said this will “ensure survivors have access to information, emotional support, safety planning, risk assessment, crisis intervention, and referrals whenever they need support.”
Angela Marie MacDougall, the executive director of BWSS, told Daily Hive that this is also an opportunity to highlight the importance of public safety during the FIFA World Cup behind closed doors and “beyond the stadium.”
Since BWSS extended its crisis line hours, she said it has seen a 20 per cent increase in calls.
MacDougall said that while BWSS is analyzing the increase in calls to determine if they are related to FIFA, research shows that major sporting events are associated with between 20 and 40 per cent increases in intimate partner violence.
For example, BWSS observes an increase in calls in the weeks following major sporting events like the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, and Grey Cup.
“Often we will see that there are incidents that happen that night, or the day of, that they will reference in the call,” MacDougall said.
Sporting events don’t necessarily cause this abuse, she explained.
“It accelerates, it amplifies, it creates more opportunity for that abuse to escalate, and what that means is that it has to do with strong emotions, the excitement that comes from games, winning and losing, the use of alcohol, the proliferation of gambling, and financial stress that comes from losing.”
During the World Cup, BWSS will examine the patterns of service demand, which MacDougall said they hope will help for future public safety planning — especially response to intimate partner violence during major events.
MacDougall said that it “takes a lot for someone to call their crisis line,” but that people don’t have to be sure that they’re experiencing abuse before they decide to call.
“If something doesn’t feel right in the relationship, if they’re worried about their safety, or if they want to talk through things, we’re here to listen. And people don’t have to have it all figured out,” she said.
She added that people can experience “an extraordinarily abusive relationship” without physical violence.
Further, MacDougall said that people experiencing coercive control might not immediately recognize it as abuse because it tends to be normalized.
“So often control can be reframed as love or protectiveness and care, but what’s actually happening is someone’s monitoring whereabouts, demanding constant contact, restricting independence, isolating someone from supports. It can also be framed under jealousy or possessiveness.”
The BWSS crisis line phone number is 1-855-687-1868.