Two women’s support groups said they're appalled by the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Police Department (VPD) removing the homeless encampments on the Downtown Eastside without proper supports.. Homeless encampmentHomeless encampment .“Had we known about this in advance, we could have pointed out concerns and at the very least, planned to make sure the women were safe,” said Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC) Executive Director Alice Kendall in a press release..“What’s happening is disgusting and degrading, and there is no opportunity for anybody to get any support at all.” .The VPD took East Hastings Street back from homeless people and drug addicts on April 5..READ MORE: Encampment on East Hastings Street in Vancouver removed.City of Vancouver employees began to dismantle tents on the Downtown Eastside..“The street is usually packed with dealers, illicit stores, and broken people,” said a witness..Kendall said women cannot access the DEWC’s services..Battered Women’s Support Services Executive Director Angela Marie MacDougall said removing the encampments will increase violence against women in the neighbourhood. She acknowledged women are “already at a higher risk for violence than their male counterparts, and being unhoused is a particular risk.” .“Safe and secure housing for women in the Downtown Eastside and throughout Vancouver is desperately needed,” said MacDougall..“Poverty is not a crime, and neither is being unhoused.”.The release said encampments are unsafe, and people should be housed. It said moving people along does not make anyone safer and puts them at a greater risk..DEWC board member Andrea Glickman said it was “appalled with the militaristic tactics that the VPD is deploying against unhoused people in the DTES and are echoing the calls for de-escalation and an immediate stop to clearing the streets without secure housing.”.Glickman said people should not be moved except if there is safe, supportive housing..“What’s happening today is an absolute trespass of human rights by all governments permitting this displacement to happen,” she said..Former Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart said Friday he was grateful to the residents who stood up against police clearing East Hastings Street of homeless people..READ MORE: Former Vancouver mayor praises people opposing Downtown Eastside homeless eviction.“The many hateful replies to the below tweet makes me fear Vancouver is losing its humanity,” said Stewart..“Maybe offer to buy folks in need a warm coffee if you are downtown this Easter weekend.”
