This community report is the first phase of a broader research study to explore women's experiences with criminal justice and other agencies that respond to intimate partner violence (IPV, also referred to as Domestic Violence). The analysis takes the perspective that an "effective" criminal justice system has the primary goal of making victims safer. The report summarizes focus groups with a range of constitutents, focusing on experiences with the criminal justice system, conceptualizations of safety, and women's experiences. Areas of the criminal justice system explored include:
- police arrest and charging practices
- prosecution policies
- protection orders
- partner assault response (PAR) programs
- victim support services
- community agency services
By Holly Johnson and Jennifer Fraser, Department of Criminology, University of Ottawa
This report focuses on the health of the province's poorest residents. Analysis of Statistic Canada's 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey revealed that social assistance recipients have higher rates of poor health and chronic conditions than non-poor counterparts, as well as higher suicidality rates. The working poor had higher rates of some chronic conditions and had worse self-reported health and mental health and suicidality than the non-poor group in the data. For a variety of reasons including low rates of health insurance coverage, the poor groups were less likely to access health services, including preventative care.
Produced by the Community Social Planning and Research Council of Toronto (CSPC-T), University of Toronto Social Assistance in the New Economy Project (SANE) and the Wellesley Institute.
This paper focuses on the impact of the corporatization of human services on the feminist anti-violence sector and the needs and issues to which it responds. Issues such as the blurring of public and private funding strategies, the conversion of social perception about the value of civil vs. corporate influence on governance, severe cuts to health and social programs, and restrictive interpretation of charitable activities are all part of the corporatization effect, and not only limit how feminist anti-violence workers can do their work in line with their principles and mandates, but also point to the shrinking space for anti-oppression activism and advocacy.
Paper presented at the 2005 Canadian Social Welfare Policy Conference Forging Social Futures, by Mandy Bonisteel and Linda Green.
A research paper that was commissioned by the Domestic Violence Advisory Council in 2007 to help fulfill the mandate of developing recommendations that could be achieved by making better use of existing resources and building on promising practices. The report examines how the trend toward gender-neutral language in talking about intimate partner violence results in misrepresenting the research on the nature of violence. Rather than being more inclusive, gender neutral - or bi-directional - language promotes understandings of woman abuse / domestic violence as mutual, reciprocal, or bi-directional. This is contrary to our understanding and research on context, injury, sexual assualt, and women's experiences of violence. The use of language has large implications for policy and research, and it is important that we understand how we use langague to ensure the needs and interests of women who experience violence are served.
This report was written by Walter S. DeKeseredy and Molly Dragiewicz for development of Transforming Our Communitites: Report from the Domestic Violence Advisory Council for he Minister Responsible for Women's Issues.
This Final Research Report on funding issues for on-reserve women's shelters in Canada was instigated by the concern that the rate of INAC (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada) funding would lead to the closure of some shelters permanently. The existing funding formula looked at 4 categories: staff, salaries, other expenses, remoteness. However, this formula does not take into account a number of factors which impact on the ability of shelters to operate, including:
- province of operation
- shelter size
- remoteness details
- supports for staff training and facilities upgrades
- standards for shelter services
- governance structure of shelters
- reporting requirements
This film explores the concept of Harm Reduction and examines some of the ways this model can be adopted for VAW organizations wishing to create inclusive safe space for women who are using substances.
Approx. 30 minutes
There is a Discussion Guide to be used in conjunction with this video.
This report explores the intersection between VAW, substance use and mental health concerns. Key issues emerging based on interviews, questionnaires and other input from women with lived experience of VAW and mental health and/or substance use concerns were divided into 3 key areas: Service Gaps, Funding Gaps, and Policy Gaps. Some of the highlighted issues within each group were:
- Service Gaps - includes lack of integration of services, lack of recognition of the connections among women's concerns, most marginalized women have the most difficulty accessing services
- Funding Gaps - includes funding by different Ministries fro mental health and substance use programs and VAW services, targetted funding undermines holistic approach to deal with multitude of concerns women experience, short-term funding makes partnerships and programming difficult
- Policy Gaps - policy is not violence-informed using a gender-based analysis; many public policies contribute to, rather than reduce, harms to women
This report submitted to Ministry of Indian Affairs and Northern Development on March 9, 2007, describes the results of a three-phase consultation process held to develop a recommendation to the Minister regarding a viable legislative option to address matrimonial real property issues on reserves. The parties involved were Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), and the Native Woman's Association of Canada (NWAC).
This report provides ratings of each strategic framework that was established by the three previous Summits to End Violence Against Aboriginal Women. The strategic goals being evaluated include data collection on VAW in Aboriginal communities, legal reform and legislative change regarding VAW, creation of a comprehensive policy in Ontario, programs designed to address VAW, public education campaign to create awareness, and community leadership.