Cambridge Now!

Greater Awareness Needed

 

The three-day, provincially-funded conference, brought together 850 police, health care and community workers to raise awareness, dialogue and seek solutions to the problem of violence against women. The first conference was in 2005 and led to the creation of the Kitchener-Waterloo Family Violence Project, which is the host of this year’s conference.

 

Deb Matthews, Minister of Children and Youth Services said “We all have a responsibility to end violence against women.” The McGuinty government has provided more than $190 million annually to violence against women services, including a four-year $82 million Domestic Violence Action Plan that provides community-based supports, public education and training, and strengthens Ontario’s criminal and family justice systems. 

 

 

“You can make what you will of your life, whether you are a woman or a man” was the message Michaëlle Jean’s mother imparted to her. Born in Port au Prince, Haiti, she and her family left her country and sought refuge in Canada. 

 

As she pursued her studies, Michaëlle Jean worked for eight years, from 1979 to 1987, with Quebec shelters for battered women. She has taken in, supported and accompanied hundreds of women and children in crisis, while actively contributing to the establishment of a network of emergency shelters through Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. She was also involved in aid organizations for immigrant women and families. She has won many awards for journalism including La pasionaria, on the struggle of an immigrant woman in Quebec, the Prix Mieeille-Lanctôt for her report titled Partir à zero, dealing with spousal violence.

 

“Even here in Canada, a country we consider progressive and egalitarian, the statistics about the number of female victims of violence, attached in their own homes, in the street, at school, at work, humiliated, terrorized, continues to be alarming” said Michaëlle Jean.

 

She told the delegates at the Conference that “Our greatest challenge is to ensure that we can break the silence as soon as possible. Because the silence of those who endure simply fuels the violence and confines them to the most unrelenting solitude…When a woman breaks free from violence, she must find the doors open to her; she must be taken seriously and protected by judicial and police authorities, by those who administer care, by everyone.” 

 

 

The Kitchener-Waterloo Family Violence Project is a collaborative response to family violence within Waterloo Region. It aims to “provide consistent and continuous supports and seamless delivery of services to victims and children. It is a unique and safe place where victims of domestic violence are our highest priority. It is a centre where the staff understands and is sensitive to the unique needs related to family violence. It provides one stop access for victims and their families.”

 

 

Catholic Family Counselling Centre for Waterloo Region 519-743-6333

Community Action Program for Children 19-749-1229

Crown Attorney’s Office (Ontario’s Domestic Violence Court) 519-741-3222

Family and Children’s Services of Waterloo Region 519-576-0540

Victim/Witness Assistance Program 519-571-6160

Waterloo Regional Police Service (Domestic Violence Investigation Branch ) 519-579-9668

Waterloo Regional Police Service (Victim Services Unit) 519-743-7243

Waterloo Region Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centre 519-749-6994

Women’s Crisis Services (Anselma House 519-742-5894 and Haven House 519-653-2422).

 

 

The Ontario Women’s Directorate, a division of the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, provides focus for government action on issues of concern to women. The two key areas of activity for the OWD is to prevent violence against women and promote women’s economic independence.

 

-         7% of Ontario women living in a common-law or marital relationship experienced physical/sexual assault by a spousal partner at least once during the period of 1999-2004.

-         51% of women in Canada have experienced at least one incidence of physical/sexual violence since the age of 16.2.

-         there have been approximately 25 female victims of spousal homicide each year in Ontario from 1975-2004.

-         Almost 40% of women assault by spouses said their children witnessed the violence against them, and in many cases the violence was severe.

-         Aboriginal women are three times more likely to experience spousal violence than non-Aboriginal women.

-         11% of women reported experiencing stalking during the period of 1999-2004

-         71% of women residing in Ontario shelters on April 19, 2006 were victims of abuse.

-         52% of women escaping abusive situations were admitted to Ontario shelters with their children, and 69% of these children were under the age of 10.

-         Less than 10% of sexual assaults are reported to the police.