| Communiqué | Article Submissions:
Please email us your articles by September 1, 2012.
Each article should be limited to 200 words.*
*Disclaimer: The article may be edited for length and readability. |
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Prevention of Violence Against Women,
Youth, and Children
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The far-reaching impacts of violence against women, youth, and children in Canada cannot be understated. According to research led by Colleen Varcoe, even after women leave abusive partners, the economic cost to Canadians is $6.9 billion per year in health, legal, and social services. Yet the human costs, adds Varcoe, are "incalculable." We, as a society, "must do a better job of prevention, early detection and support for women at risk to violence." To meet this challenge, across Canada, community groups, research-based institutions, and national organizations in collaboration with government continue to push for the elimination of violence through prevention initiatives. Within this context, we present this edition of Communiqué. We begin with a brief overview of Varcoe's research.
Annual Cost of Violence $6.9 Billion After Women Leave Abusive Partners
Drawing from a community sample of Canadian women who have left abusive male partners, Varcoe et al examined the associated costs of intimate partner violence, including selected public and private costs attributable to violence. Combined, for women aged 19 to 65 who have left abusive partners, these costs were over $13,000 per woman per year, or a national annual cost of $6.9 billion. For women experiencing violence within the past three years, these costs were $3.1 billion annually. These findings show that costs continue long after women leave violent partners. Varcoe concludes there is a need for recognition in policy that leaving does not coincide with ending violence.
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FREDA Centre and JIBC Report on Domestic Violence Prevention and Reduction in BC
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According to Katherine Rossiter's (2011) report, between January 2003 and August 2008, 73 of the 605 homicides committed in BC were the result of domestic violence. Rossiter reviews domestic violence prevention and reduction initiatives in BC (2000-2010), including relevant legislation and policy, training initiatives for service providers across systems, and efforts to strengthen community responses to domestic violence. She concludes that key decisions surrounding domestic violence legislation, policy, funding, and services are closely linked to changes in government and high-profile cases of domestic violence and domestic homicide that generate policy discussions.
The report includes an overview of government-, police-, and community-based victim services and programs for domestic violence perpetrators, as well as services and prevention initiatives designed to meet the needs of specific populations of victims, including relevant national and international domestic violence prevention programs and initiatives. The findings support the call for primary prevention strategies that address the root causes of crime and promote strategic investments in children and families.
The full report is available on the Justice Institute of British Columbia website.
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2011 24 Hour Census: Turn Hundreds More Away
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BC Society of Transition Houses sends its appreciation to the 124 Children Who Witness Abuse, Transition House, Safe Home and Second Stage programs who participated in the third annual BCSTH 24 Hour Census on November 24th, 2011. In just one day these programs helped, informed, and educated 2876 people.
Anti-violence advocates across BC supported and sheltered 1110 women, youth, and children in person and responded to 1461 calls, emails and texts from people asking for help or wanting information. Another 305 people were educated about violence against women and its impacts on women, children, and communities.
Yet for every two people helped in person another person was turned away or remained on a waiting list. In just one day, 641 people were turned away, remained on waitlists, or were otherwise unable to access the support they needed. BCSTH heard loud and clear from advocates that many programs simply do not have the resources to meet the demand for services in their communities.
To learn more about what happened in just one day in BCSTH member programs across BC, stay tuned for the full report, which will be released during Prevention of Violence Against Women Week in April.
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Housing Barriers for Women Leaving Violent Relationships: BCNPHA and BCSTH to Release Advocacy and Mobilization Toolkit
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BC Non-Profit Housing Association and BC Society of Transition Houses have developed a new toolkit to raise awareness about the barriers to housing for women leaving violent relationships. The toolkit emphasizes two key messages: Violence is the number one cause of women's homelessness and housing instability, yet many women stay in violent relationships due to the lack of housing. And, women's barriers to housing after leaving a violent relationship are systemic.
Following BCNPHA and BCSTH's co-authored Surviving Not Thriving: The Systemic Barriers to Housing for Women Fleeing Violence (2010), the Canadian Institutes for Health Research provided funding for a facilitator's toolkit to guide diverse audiences through awareness building activities. A short, yet powerful film on women's barriers to housing provides the foundation for this toolkit. The toolkit also includes instructions on organizing and facilitating dialogue sessions, a series of exercises to debrief the film with multiple audiences, and the resources needed to engage in a broad range of advocacy initiatives.
The toolkit will be released in 2012. The Surviving Not Thriving report is available upon request from BCNPHA.
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Online Domestic Violence Safety Planning Training
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In 2010, BC Housing, in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, BC Society of Transition Houses, Ending Violence Association of BC, Police Victim Services of BC, and Open School BC, began developing an online, cross-sector, domestic violence safety planning training for all Violence Against Women programs. The training will be available at no-cost to Children Who Witness Abuse (CWWA), Community-Based Victim Services (CBVS), Outreach and Multicultural Outreach, Police-based Victim Services (PBVS), Stopping The Violence Counselling, Safe Homes, Second Stage Housing, and Transition Housing programs.
BC Housing recognizes that online training has limitations. As well, it does not replace in-person training; yet they anticipate the online option will allow greater access and flexibility for self-paced learners. Designed for completion within eight to twelve hours, the seven-module training includes an overview of domestic violence and safety planning with children and youth. Interactive tools such as video clips from support workers, case studies, and quizzes have been incorporated to account for different learning styles and engage workers.
BC Housing is in the final stages of development and will launch the training in late Spring 2012. For further information contact Sairoz Sekhon 604.439.8582.
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Violence is Preventable (VIP) Project
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Established in 2004, BCSTH's Violence Is Preventable (VIP) is a strategic initiative for education and school-based support for issues of violence in the home. Provincial in scope, VIP's objective is to break the silence on domestic violence by providing a safe place for children and youth to speak up in schools about domestic violence. VIP strives to increase teacher, school staff, parent and student awareness about violence in relationships and its effects on child witnesses. As well, VIP facilitates partnerships between schools and communities as a way to respond to the emotional, social, academic and psychological needs of children exposed to violence in the home.
Violence Is Preventable is also a strategy for connecting schools to the Children Who Witness Abuse (CWWA) programs across BC. BCSTH offers central coordination of the VIP initiatives, including advocacy, resource development, training for CWWA counsellors, on-going support to CWWA counsellors and their member agencies, as well as support for Aboriginal, multi-cultural, and other identified communities.
With funds from the CKNW Orphans Fund (2009-2011) and the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General (2012-2013), VIP will continue into next year. BCSTH is committed to securing funding for the VIP after 2013.
For more information contact your local Children Who Witness Abuse Program or Rhiannon Wong, BCSTH Children and Youth Services Coordinator.
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BC Government Makes Civil Forfeiture Funding Available for VIP Program
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The Government of British Columbia has announced that an additional $5.5 million in civil forfeiture proceeds will be provided in fiscal 2011-2012 to support local crime prevention efforts throughout the province. The new money is in addition to funding provided for projects in 2011, bringing the total amount of civil forfeiture funding to groups in 2011-2012 to $6.1 million. Earlier, the Province announced $500,000 through the Crime Remediation and Crime Prevention Grant Program and $100,000 through the Domestic Violence Prevention Response Fund.
As part of this announcement, one-time grant funding of $5,000 is available for Children Who Witness Abuse (CWWA) programs to support the delivery of school-based Violence is Preventable (VIP) programs in their communities. The Victim Services and Crime Prevention Division, Ministry of Justice, strongly supports these programs, which provide school-based educational presentations on domestic violence prevention to students and teachers and connect schools to an important community resource for dealing with children who have been exposed to domestic violence.
Successful grant applicants will be informed by the end of March 2012. For further information contact Thomas Taller 604.660.3854
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My Feminism by Robyn Spilker, Victoria, BC
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We close this edition with an inspirational article by Robyn Spilker, which speaks to the fluid and evolving nature of feminism and the individual ability to take action against oppression.
My feminism is part of my thoughts, feelings, and actions. This part of my being and knowing is always transforming. Even the act of writing about my feminism shifts it and what I have written becomes like a shirt that does not quite fit. My feminism does not fit on a piece of paper. Yet, I will discuss how I understand part of my feminism through sometimes painfully academic concepts of intersectionality, agency, and critical reflexivity. For me, intersectionality is the recognition that though I am a woman, I am also white, middle-class, a settler, cis-gendered, sexually open, able-bodied and much more. My identities are not static and separate but fluid and connected. In this way, my social location and subjective experiences shape my understanding of sexism, feminism, and gender, which means my knowledge of being a woman does not reflect the experiences of all women.
Going on to agency. This is not about having some individualistic "free will." This is about knowing that I take part in creating systems and discourses, which means I can find ways to resist and change oppressive systems. I can create my own feminism and anti-oppressive living. Now my perspectives are always incomplete, meaning there is always a degree of "not-knowing" the ways I am complicit in oppressive systems, which is why practicing critical reflexivity is amazingly important to look at how my lived experiences and social location impact the way I know what I know. Reflexivity needs to be developed as a habitual process because the story of me in relation to the world is always changing.
My feminist concepts of intersectionality, agency, and critical reflexivity are also about love, action, and vision. I believe love flows between all of us. We try to condense it, contain it to particular relationships, but it is always there telling me I am connected to all beings and helping me be more aware of systemic injustices. My feminism is about love motivating me to take collaborative action against oppression and to subvert dominant discourse with play. In my shifting, flowing reflexivity, action, and critical being comes vision. My vision is not a stagnant outcome, a "goal", or a result of "progress." My visions are shape shifters. They are realized and re-created every day.
For additional information, suggested links, books and audio-visuals on prevention, visit the BCSTH Library and click on the Library Catalogue "Prevention" reading list.
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BCSTH MISSION STATEMENT
BC Society of Transition Houses is a centre of excellence enhancing the continuum of services and strategies necessary to end violence against women, youth and children.
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