If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
We are not an emergency or crisis shelter, but we can help you navigate your transition to a stable future.
If you are not in immediate danger, we are here to help. You are not alone.
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Need Support?
Alice House is here for you.
If you’ve already left a violent relationship and are looking for safe housing, trauma-informed counselling, or support services as you rebuild your life, we can help.
Call us at 902-466-8459 to learn if Alice House might be the right next step for you.
Am I being abused?
There are many different types of intimate partner violence. Does any of this sound familiar?
Physical abuse
- Any unwanted physical contact with the intent to harm, intimidate, or dominate
- Hitting with objects or threatening with a weapon
- Restraining, confining, not allowing somebody to leave
- Taking away mobility devices or withholding essential care
- Physical intimidation
Sexual abuse
- Sexual assault
- Any sexual contact without consent
- Badgering for sex with consequences if partner says no (ignores partner, threats of sex with someone else)
- Forcing sex with others
- Sexual comments or sharing sexual images publicly or online
Emotional abuse
- Yelling, intimidation, name calling, false accusations
- Threats to partner, children, pets (also abuser threating suicide)
- Inappropriate expressions of jealousy, accusations of affairs
- Making partner feel guilty for having a disability
- Degrading, insulting, gaslighting, disbelieving, or pressuring
- Stalking, or incessant texting, calling, or emailing
- Questioning the person’s sexual orientation or gender identity
- Mocking, devaluing partner to their children
Financial abuse
- Withholding money or taking money
- Forcing or denying work
- Requiring sexual acts for money
- Controlling banking, transactions and assets
- Identity theft which can be easier if the partner is the same sex
- Intentionally destroying credit or not paying bills
Social abuse
- Embarrassing partner in front of friends, family, family of choice, in public, or online
- Rude or alienating to partner’s family or friends
- Forcing public displays of affection that “out” a partner
- Showing up unexpectedly
- Having friends check up on partner
- Taking away cell phone, computer, or Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices
Spiritual abuse
- Using religion to justify abuse or dominance
- Requiring sexual acts or drug use as religious acts
- Mocking beliefs
- Not allowing partner to practice beliefs
- Imposing beliefs
Contact a helpline or peer organization
Neighbours, Friends and Families (Abuse and Violence Support Line)
The toll-free hotline offers help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Experienced counsellors answer the phone and can give you numbers for other resources, such as domestic violence shelters across the province.
Call 1-855-225-0220
Hope for Wellness Helpline
Available to all Indigenous people across Canada. Experienced and culturally competent counsellors are reachable by telephone and online chat. Services are available 24/7 in English and French, and telephone support is also available upon request in Cree, Ojibway (Anishinaabemowin), and Inuktitut.
Call toll-free 1-855-242-3310 or chat online at hopeforwellness.ca.
Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team
Hotline to help children, youth, and adults manage a mental health crisis. Call for 24/7 support over the phone or in-person in the Halifax area.
Call 902-429-8167 or 1-888-429-8167 (toll free)
Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia
Focused on breaking the cycles that lead to criminalization of women, girls, non-binary, and gender diverse individuals. EFMNS offers critical supports for transitional housing, life skills programming in jail and in the community, and court navigation services.
Call 902-454-5041 or visit their website, efrymns.ca.
Kids Help Phone
Canada’s only 24/7 e-mental health service offering free, multilingual and confidential support to help all young people.
Call 1-800-668-6868, text CONNECT to 686868 or visit their website for live chat.
211 Nova Scotia
Free and confidential 24/7 referrals, connecting you to local community groups, non-profit and government organizations. Community Resource Navigators are trained to deal with sensitive questions, including domestic violence and abuse.
Visit 211ns.ca to call, chat, email, or text
Where to find shelter
Alice House offers non-emergency, second-stage safe housing for 3 months to 2 years. For emergency shelter, see below.
Provides a crisis shelter for women and their children that are escaping intimate partner violence. They also operate a 24/7 distress line: 902-422-7650.
Provides emergency shelter and affordable housing services for women, gender diverse individuals, and children facing homelessness.
Outside of the Halifax Regional Municipality?
There are 11 shelter locations outside of HRM to get you or your loved one the support they need.
Make a safety plan
Intimate partner violence usually does not get better. Think about a safe place for you to go and what you will need.
Get started with this seven step guide written by the Nova Scotia Department of Justice.
How can I help someone who is being abused?
If you suspect a neighbour, friend, or family member in Nova Scotia is experiencing intimate partner violence, call the Neighbour Friends and Family toll free line: 1-855-225-0220.
Here are some concerns you may have about whether you should help:
POINT OF CONCERN
You feel it’s none of your business.
POINT TO CONSIDER
It could be a matter of life or death. Violence is everyone’s business.
POINT OF CONCERN
You think she doesn’t want to leave, because she keeps going back.
POINT TO CONSIDER
She may not have had the support she needed.
POINT OF CONCERN
You might make things worse.
POINT TO CONSIDER
Doing nothing could also make things worse.
POINT OF CONCERN
It’s not serious enough to involve the police.
POINT TO CONSIDER
Police are trained to respond and utilize other resources.
