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Intimate Partner Violence Against Immigrant and Refugee Women |
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Both International Women’s Day and International Women’s Week take place in March. The theme of this year is Strong Women: Strong World. To commemorate these important milestones, the theme of the National Clearinghouse on Family Violence (NCFV) March E-bulletin is intimate partner violence against immigrant and refugee women. The NCFV E-Bulletin is a quarterly newsletter for those interested in family violence prevention. It is produced by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) on behalf of the Family Violence Initiative (FVI) of the Government of Canada. We want to hear from you! Please send your comments and feedback to our editor at: 
Spousal Violence Against Visible Minority and Immigrant Women According to the 2004 General Social Survey (GSS) on victimization conducted by Statistics Canada:
* Visible minority status was defined as persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour. The visible minority population includes those who self-identify as Chinese, South Asian, Black, Arab/West Asian, Filipino, Southeast Asian, Latin American, Japanese, Korean and Pacific Islander. The lower rates of spousal violence for visible minority and immigrant women may be partially explained by the fact that some of the risk factors for violence (e.g., emotional and psychological abuse, heavy drinking among spousal partners, prevalence of common-law unions) are less likely to be present for this group of women. It is also worth noting that the GSS is conducted in English and French, so these figures may under-represent the actual rates of spousal violence against visible minority and immigrant women as some may not have been able to participate in the survey. Source: Measuring Violence Against Women: Statistical Trends 2006, Statistics Canada
Raising Awareness on Family Violence among Multicultural Communities In 2003, Canadian Heritage provided over $1 million in funding over five-years to a multi-partner project to raise awareness on family violence issues in ethno-cultural communities where little or no English or French is spoken. The project partners – Shield of Athena in Montreal, COSTI in Toronto and The People’s Law School in Vancouver – developed a number of distinct awareness-raising projects. For example, writing and publishing key articles and information materials, producing videos and public service announcements for ethnic radio and television airwaves, and hosting interviews, workshops and community meetings. In addition, key linkages were established and strengthened with law enforcement authorities, medical and legal professionals, as well as with community leaders to gain and sustain their involvement in addressing family violence in their respective fields of expertise. These projects provide valuable information on family violence in Spanish, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Russian, Creole, Farsi, Bengali, Armenian, Arabic and Romanian, to name a few. Canadian Heritage’s contributions to these important projects are part of the Multiculturalism Program’s outreach strategy under the federal Family Violence Initiative. To learn more about the Multiculturalism Program’s grant and contribution funding, please visit: http://www.patrimoinecanadien.gc.ca/progs/multi/program/index_e.cfm or contact Lynne Sirois at lynne_sirois@pch.gc.ca.
The NCFV offers over 130 publications, including overview papers, reports, discussion papers and handbooks on family violence issues. To preview our most recent publications, please see our What's New page. NCFV publications are available free of charge, in hard copy or online, in English and French and in alternative formats. To order, please visit our Web site or contact us.
The NCFV provides an extensive library reference collection, housed in the Health Canada Departmental Library. The following books may be borrowed through an interlibrary loan through your local public, academic or institutional library. Please contact the NCFV for more information or visit our Web site: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ncfv-cnivf/lib-eng.php Resources on Intimate Partner Violence Against Immigrant and Refugee Women: Violence hurts us all: ethnic media outreach project. Two videos translated in seven languages (Arabic, Mandarin, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish). Montreal: Shield of Athena, 2002-2003.
Empowerment of immigrant and refugee women who are victims of violence in their intimate relationships: final report, by the Justice Institute of British Columbia, Experiences of front-line shelter workers in providing service to immigrant women impacted by family violence, Practice-based research paper for the York University Graduate Programme in Social Work, by Angie Arora S.l.: Angie Arora; York University, 2004, 70 p. Assisting immigrant and refugee women abused by their sponsors: a guide for service providers, by Katrina Pacey, Vancouver: BC Institute Against Family Violence, 2003, 55 p. Nowhere to turn: responding to partner violence against immigrant and visible minority women, by Ekuwa Smith, Ottawa: Canadian Council on Social Development, 2004, 66 p. Multicultural social work in Canada: working with diverse ethno-racial communities, by Alean Al-Krenawi and John R. Graham, Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2002, 397 p. Domestic violence and child abuse: issues for immigrant and refugee families, by Ramona Alaggia and Sarah Maiter, in Cruel but not unusual: violence in Canadian families edited by Ramona Alaggia and Cathy Vine. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2006, 522 p. In the adopted land: abused immigrant women and the criminal justice system, by Hoan N.Bui. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2004, 154 p. Double jeopardy?: violence against immigrant women in Canada, by Douglas A. Brownridge and Shivalingappa S. Halli. Violence and Victims, 17, 4 (Aug 2002): 455-71. Discourses of denial: mediation of race, gender, and violence, by Yasmin Jiwani Intersecting inequalities: immigrant women of colour, violence and health care, by Yasmin Jiwani. Vancouver: FREDA Centre for Research on Violence against Women and Children, 2001, 88 p. Erased realities: the violence of racism in the lives of immigrant and refugee girls of colour, by Yasmin Jiwani, Nancy Janovicek, and Angela Cameron.Vancouver: FREDA Centre for Research on Violence against Women and Children, 2001, 54 p. Mental health promotion among newcomer female youth: post-migration experiences and self-esteem, by Nazilla Khanlou. Ottawa: Status of Women Canada, 2002, 73+ p. Domestic violence in Asian American communities: a cultural overview, by Tuyen D. Nguyen. Oxford : Lexington Books, 2005, 148 p. Trafficking in women in Canada: a critical analysis of the legal framework governing immigrant live-in caregivers and mail-order brides, by Louise Langevin and Marie-Claire Belleau. Ottawa: Status of Women Canada, 2000, 220 p. Domestic violence at the margins: readings on race, class, gender, and culture, edited by Natalie J. Sokoloff and Christina Pratt. Piscataway : Rutgers University Press, 2005, 443 p. In collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada, the NCFV offers a vast collection of videos that address family violence. Videos may be borrowed through NFB partner public libraries across Canada or through an interlibrary loan through your local public, academic or institutional library. To obtain a complete list of videos, libraries and distributors, please contact us or vist our online video catalogue. Recent additions to the Video Collection: Let’s Talk About It Behind Closed Doors
March 12 to 14, 2008 – NW Parenting and Family Education Conference, Vancouver, BC March 16 to 19, 2008 – Banff 40th International Conferences on Behavioural Science - Effective Early Learning Programs: Research, Policy and Practice, Banff, AB March 31 to April 2, 2008– International Conference on Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence and Stalking, New Orleans, LA, USA April 3 to 6, 2008 – Tenth National Metropolis Conference – Expanding the Date: Multiple Perspectives on Immigration to Canada, Halifax, NS April 4 to 5, 2008 – Expanding Horizons for the Early Years 2008: Practice, Research and Promoting Change, Toronto, ON April 10 to 12, 2008 – Third National Biennial Conference on Adolescents and Adults with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. FASD and Mental Health: The Wisdom of Practice, Vancouver, BC April 13 to 19, 2008 – National Victims of Crime Awareness Week: Finding the Way Together. April 22 to 25, 2008 – 2008 Child Abuse Summit & Family Violence Conference, Portland, OR, USA May 12 to 14, 2008 – 2008 Joining Together: Changes and Challenges in Child Maltreatment, Calgary, AB May 19 to 23, 2008 – Seminar on Aging: Families and Households in Global Perspective, Boston, USA June 2 to 4, 2008 – 2008 Joint Conference Shoulder to Shoulder: Strengthening Partnerships for Positive Outcomes, Toronto, ON July 7 to 9, 2008 – 8th International Looking After Children Conference: Transforming Lives - Improving Outcomes, Oxford, UK July 18 to 23, 2008 – 13th National Conference on Domestic Violence and 30th Anniversary Celebration: Building Grassroots Leadership for Social Justice, Washington, DC, USA August 27 to 30, 2008 – 10th International Conference of the International Association for the Treatment of Sexual Offenders - Sexual Violence: Preventing through Offender Treatment and Public Policy, Cape Town, South Africa September 7 to 10, 2008 – The XVIIth ISPCAN International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect: Towards A Caring and Non-Violent Community: A Child's Perspective, Hong Kong, China September 8 to 11, 2008 – 1st World Conference for Women’s Shelters, Discovering the Common Core: Practical Frameworks for Change, Edmonton, AB September 19 to 22, 2008 – Perspectives on Social Capital and Social Inclusion, Buggiba, Malta September 29 to October 1 – The 9th World Indigenous Women & Wellness Conference, Calgary, AB October 5 to 8, 2008 – Seventh North American Conference on Shaken Baby Syndrome, Vancouver, BC October 20 to 23, 2008 – 17th International Safe Communities Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand November 14 to 17, 2008 – The Power of Movements (World YWCA),Cape Town, South Africa August 23 to 29, 2009 – 5th World Congress on Family Law and Children's Rights, Halifax, NS
Canadian Heritage, Aboriginal Peoples’ Program Canadian Heritage’s 2008/2009 Funding Application Guide for its Aboriginal Peoples’ Program will be available in April 2008 at: http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/pa-app/prog-home_e.cfm The Program includes a Family Violence Initiative component which examines and addresses issues of violence in immediate and extended Aboriginal families and researches and develops holistic and culturally-appropriate responses to family violence. Family Violence Initiative activities must focus on one or more of the following specific issues:
For more information, please contact: http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/pa-app/contacts/index_e.cfm
Introducing Dr. Robin Mason, Canadian Family Violence Researcher We are pleased to highlight the work of Dr. Robin Mason, Research Scientist with the Violence and Health Research Program at the Women's College Research Institute and Assistant Professor with the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto. Dr. Robin Mason is a community-based researcher specializing in intimate partner violence and abuse (IPV) in ethno-cultural communities, as well as training and educating health care professionals about these issues. She was co-principal investigator on a study of perceptions of and responses to IPV in Toronto's Tamil community and is interested in extending this work to other newcomer communities to develop culturally appropriate violence prevention strategies. Dr. Mason was also an investigator on a project, led by Dr. Ilene Hyman, exploring the influence of life in Canada on gender relations within Ethiopian couples and their patterns of adaptation to these changes. She is currently the co-chair of a provincial expert panel charged with developing and disseminating an online curriculum on domestic violence for hospital emergency departments and was a member of the workgroup that developed a similar curriculum for emergency medical services. Dr. Mason was also a member of the group that developed A Consensus Statement on Intimate Partner Violence for the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. At Women’s College Hospital, Robin develops of community-based partnerships to facilitate research on intimate partner abuse and its health impacts, and works with staff to improve care for women who have experienced IPV. She also works with a number of community-based organizations including the Woman Abuse Council of Toronto and Springtide Resources (formerly Education Wife Assault). For more information, please see: http://www.womensresearch.ca/people/faculty/mason.php Research Centre: The Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) The Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD) promotes better social and economic security for all Canadians. A national, self-supporting, member-based organization, the Council's main product is information and its main activity is research, focussing on issues such as child well-being, economic security, poverty, cultural diversity and government social policies. Much of the CCSD’s recent research has focussed on measuring and monitoring economic and social well-being, particularly of children and their families. As well, the CCSD has been involved in two studies on partner abuse in immigrant and visible minority communities:
In The Next Edition: The theme of the NCFV’s May E-bulletin is Child Sexual Abuse. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Content of the NCFV E-Bulletin is provided as an information-sharing service; inclusion does not represent endorsement by the PHAC or FVI member departments. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PASS IT ON: Please feel free to forward this E-Bulletin to a friend or colleague. Past bulletins can be viewed and searched on our website: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ncfv-cnivf/EB/eb-archives-eng.php To subscribe or unsubscribe: |
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