A single Downtown Eastside cold-weather shelter has been the scene of at least six reported sexual assaults since the end of October, and Vancouver police and women's advocates are now pushing for better security.

Charges have been laid in connection with three of the assaults at the First United Church shelter at the intersection of Gore and Hastings streets, but police say two reports were dropped because of insufficient evidence.

A coalition of women's groups is accusing staff at the emergency shelter of ignoring sexual assaults, and calling on the shelter to increase staffing on the floor and segregate sleeping spaces for men and women.

"The First United Church shelter is too crowded, understaffed and inappropriate for housing people," the advocates wrote in a letter to BC Housing.

"It is negligent to have women accessing this space knowing that they are at risk of sexual violence and harassment."

The coalition includes the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, Battered Women's Support Services, WISH Drop-in Centre and the Power of Women Group.

The Vancouver Police Department says it also supports the idea of segregating men and women at the shelter.

The church's Executive Minister Rick Matthews told ctvbc.ca that he is concerned about the recent reports of assault in the shelter, but the shelter's staff members are doing what they can to prevent violence on site.

"We're dealing with a neighbourhood that's dealing with a high level of mental illness and addiction," he said.

"The issues that are out on the streets will, from time to time, show themselves inside our walls."

Matthews said that the shelter does have a separate women-only area that accounts for about a third of its floor space.

But he says that one of the church's goals is to "build healthy relationships" and it would not be appropriate to separate couples who use the shelter.

"Even though we have always had a women-only space, there are many women who choose not to go into that space," Matthews said.

He also denied that staff at the shelter had ignored any sexual assaults.

"I would be alarmed if there were specific cases where an assault was ignored," he said, adding that any staff members who did so would be re-trained and disciplined.

The shelter's policy is to report all criminal activity to the police, and Matthews said the number of staff members on the floor has doubled since October.