A new report released by the Community Foundation of Ottawa indicates more than 5,000 women who requested to stay at a shelter in the last year were turned away.
Crisis counsellors say the numbers suggest the lack of space forces many women to continue to live at home in fear of their abusive partners.
Despite the high refusal rate at local shelters, the advice given to women is to continue to ask for help.
"I think the message to women is -- please call. We have other services as well," Kia Rainbow of the Chrysalis House told CTV Ottawa on Tuesday.
Rainbow says organizations and shelters can also provide women with crisis lines, community counselling and transitional housing support programs.
The Chrysalis House turned away 941 women at its west end location last year. The shelter had room for only 100 women.
