There has long been a connection to violence against women and violence against pets. Further to that, in the interest of OAITH and our member shelters, and all women’s shelters in Ontario, women who experience gender based domestic violence are less likely to leave the violent situation if there is a pet or companion animal in the home. Reasons for this include fear for the animal’s safety; fear of harm, violence or worse perpetrated on the animal, which are often used as threats by abusers.
OAITH has written this document as an information tool with multiple options that shelters may choose and consider, based always on the needs of the women they serve, their internal capacity, and resources.
There is limited existing research examining the prevalence of domestic violence among immigrant and refugee populations. Research reveals that rates of domestic violence within immigrant and refugee populations are not higher than other populations; however, immigrant and refugee women experiencing domestic violence face numerous barriers to disclosing and reporting violence and abuse, accessing support services, and navigating intersecting legal processes and social support systems.1,2 Understanding and preventing domestic violence and homicide within immigrant and refugee populations requires a culturally- informed lens that accounts for intersecting forms of oppression and recognizes the heterogeneity of immigrant and refugee populations.3 To be effective, risk assessment, risk management, and safety planning strategies should be culturally- informed and, where possible, culturally-specific.4
This research was funded by the Canada Firearms Centre and conducted in partnership with all the transition houses in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, Victim Services in Prince Edward Island, the Chief Firearms Officers in both provinces, Victim Services of the Fredericton City Police and Codiac RCMP in New Brunswick, and the RCMP “J” Division. The major goals of the study were to:
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examine from a broad regional perspective, the various dimensions or forms in which firearms serve as instruments of control, intimidation and abuse in family violence situations;
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expand the information base on forms of firearms misuse (e.g. threats to kill the family pet or farm animals, commit suicide, harm others, and so on);
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expand the information base on firearms victimization;
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document service providers’/crisis workers’ perceptions of domestic firearms abuse
and their influence on safety planning and intervention strategies;
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document rural perceptions, norms and values on the relationships between firearms, domestic violence and animal abuse;
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inform policy and program responses to the risk factors of domestic firearms abuse and violence;
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contribute to a communications plan for the benefit of, and use by, service providers who seek to protect women, children and pets from firearms threats, abuse and violence.
Although the experiences of women living with domestic violence have been investigated through many qualitative and quantitative research studies, less is known about the effect of the presence of animals on their decision making. Women, with or without children, face numerous emotional, financial and logistical barriers to safely leaving an abusive situation. Previous anecdotal evidence indicated that concerns about the fate of companion animals or livestock could be an additional barrier to making the decision to leave.
Although there is a growing body of literature documenting the cooccurrence of animal abuse and intimate partner violence (IPV), only a few studies have examined the relationship between animal maltreatment, types of IPV, and abuse severity.
Data were gathered from 86 abused women receiving services from domestic violence shelters across Canada via a structured survey about pet abuse and the level and types of IPV perpetrated by abusive partners.
While there are many similarities, LGBTQ2S+ IPV is a social problem that comes with distinct causes, dynamics and consequences. Homophobia and transphobia in uence LGBTQ2S+ IPV in a variety of ways: from motivating abusers, to discouraging victims from seekinghelp, tocreatingunique IPV tactics and building up powerful barriers for service providers.
While the circumstances around individuals seeking shelter are complex and varied, we know that oppressive structures, such as economic injus ce, racism, and sexism, play a key role. These systemic forces interact to shape the experiences of women living with in mate partner violence (IPV) and housing issues. The narra ves in this newsle er come from the courageous women who shared their stories with advocates and researchers that work to bring greater understanding and a en on to this serious social issue.
Aboriginal Women’s Initiative Literature Review
A Review of the Literature on Intergenerational Trauma, Mental Health, Violence Against Women, Addictions and Homelessness
among Aboriginal Women of the North
Introduction
This is a journey into the literature about Aboriginal women, and those Aboriginal women who have experienced abuse. It is hoped that this journey will provide greater insight into the needs and gaps in this area, in order to help those in need. The first part provides background information and begins with the history of Aboriginal women and how colonization has impacted them over the years. This is followed by Aboriginal women’s views on health, healing and social determinants. The review then discusses research about Aboriginal women today and shows the highly compromised status of Aboriginal women’s health. Special attention is given to urban Aboriginal women since many Aboriginal women now live in the city. Access to services and services available for Aboriginal women are also reviewed. The second part examines the details of violence against Aboriginal women (root causes, risk factors, barriers to reporting, systemic barriers) and the perspectives from Aboriginal women who experienced violence (gaps, problems, barriers to healing, needs). As well, the literature review examines the challenges for women who experience violence such as mental issues, addiction and homelessness. The third part looks at the literature in terms of prevention of violence against Aboriginal women and existing shelters for Aboriginal women.
When workers are experiencing domestic violence (DV) at home, the impacts are felt in the workplace. The victimization Pan-Canadian Survey on DV and the Workplace, which surveyed over 8000 workers, found that among those experiencing DV, over half (54%) indicated that DV occurred at or near the workplace. 82% reported that DV negatively affected their workplace performance, and 38% reported being late or missing work due to DV victimization (Wathen, MacGregor, & MacQuarrie, 2014). These impacts are consistent with a recent study by Justice Canada which estimated that employers lose $77.9 million annually as a result of DV victimization (Zhang, Ting, Hoddenbagh, McDonald, & Scrim, 2012).
For the current survey, we turned our attention to another intersection between DV and the workplace, that of DV perpetration. As employers, unions, and regulators begin to try to address concerns around DV victimization with policies, training, and resources, it seemed critical to us that the experiences of workers who had perpetrated violence were also considered. We wanted to understand the extent to which perpetration of violence extended from the home to the workplace and to document the cost to workplaces of failing to address the distress, distraction, anger, and preoccupation workers experience in association with DV issues. We also wanted to give voice to those who have perpetrated violence on their experiences sharing information with their workplaces and their opinions on the types of resources that should be available in the future.
Guiding our research on DV perpetration and the workplace is our broader position that an important part of our work to end DV victimization is raising awareness, starting dialogue, and offering prevention and intervention resources to perpetrators and potential perpetrators of abuse. Because DV is a gendered issue, we can understand this position more broadly as the need to focus on men (who are perpetrators of the majority of injurious, severe, fear-provoking, and repeat DV) as a central part of efforts to prevent and intervene to end DV.