The executive director at the Hiatus House in Windsor blames changes at the Ministry of the Attorney General for the demise of a program to treat men who abuse their partners.
Thom Rolfe says the agency had a funding agreement with the ministry to deliver the Partner Assault Response program. After 16 years, the changes mean the program will provide little more than criminal sanction to abusive men.
"We believe abusive men and their partners deserve more. Hiatus House believes if we truly want to stop women abuse in the Province of Ontario, we must offer something more significant and substantial," reads a release from Hiatus House.
"We have always believed that abusive men can change, and we have also learned over the last 35 years that change takes time," says Rolfe. "It takes at least six to eight months for men to stop being physically abusive, and longer for them to stop being emotionally and psychologically abusive."
Hiatus House plans to stop providing the program on March 31, 2016 resulting in several job losses.