reducing barriers to support - BC Society of Transition Houses

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ECON OM IC STA TU S Many of the intersecting identities mentioned above have profound impacts on women’s economic status. One in five women in Canada lives in poverty. 68 On average, women earn 62 percent of what men earn, with female lone-parents, Immigrant women and Women of Colour, including Aboriginal women, most affected by poverty. 69 Economic status, in turn, affects levels of mental wellness and substance use. 70 Poverty can impact a woman’s ability to find safe, affordable housing and to leave violent contexts. In addition, the services available to women with varying levels of mental wellness and substance use vary with her economic status. Women who do not have access to financial resources or extended health care benefits are restricted to publicly funded programming and are unable to afford private treatment. 71 Finally, women who face income barriers (especially Aboriginal women) are more likely to have their children apprehended which can further negatively impact levels of mental wellness and substance use. 72 DISC USSI ON POINT 2 How can we ensure that the programming in each of our sectors is inclusive and responsive to the various needs of the diversity of women in BC and the Yukon What mechanisms can we put in place to hold ourselves accountable CURRENT POLICIES, PROCEDURES AND PRACTICES IN BC AND THE YUKON BCSTH will be distributing a survey to all of its members to learn about current practices, policies and procedures when it comes to supporting women fleeing violence who have varying levels of mental wellness and substance use. A short report will be composed from the findings and will inform the development of Promising Practices for supporting women fleeing violence who have varying levels of mental wellness and substance use. 15
BARRIERS TO ACCESSING SUPPORT “Very few programs provide services for women impacted by multiple abuse issues including domestic violence, sexual assault, trauma, substance use problems and mental illness. Women impacted by multiple abuse issues are often invisible when in our programs or perceived as disruptive when their substance use or mental health issues become evident or unmanageable. Many times women with co-occurring or multiple abuse issues are missing from community programs altogether. Battered women and survivors of sexual assault who struggle with mental illness, substance abuse, chemical dependence or trauma issues often need our services the most.” 73 Violence, mental wellness and substance use each carry their own stigmas. Morrow and Chappel argue that reactions to women labeled with mental wellness diagnosis range from “fear, misunderstanding and punitive or paternalistic measures”. 74 This stigma is especially strong for women who are pregnant or who are mothers as prevailing images of motherhood fail to account for the complexities that women’s lives often entail. 75 Due to these prevailing assumptions, women fleeing violence who have varying levels of mental wellness and substance use may not receive respectful or responsive service when they seek support. Women may be labeled as “difficult’ and blacklisted from Transitional Housing in their area because of previous disruptive behaviours or because of levels of mental wellness and substance use themselves. In some cases their names are even passed on to other agencies where they are denied access as well. As one BC Working Group expressed, “*e+xperiences of stigma and discrimination undermine women’s abilities to report their substance use patterns and concerns… and *impact+ access to addictions treatment”. 76 While this quote speaks specifically to substance use, the same reasoning can be applied to violence against women and mental wellness. Experiences with violence can increase ones levels of anxiety, which in itself can be a barrier to support. Some women may be unable to leave their own homes, let alone engage in communal living in Transitional Housing, due to high levels of anxiety. Anxiety related to experiences with violence can also lead to stigmatizing mental wellness diagnoses. Anecdotal evidence and research shows a trend in which mental health professionals have been increasingly diagnosing women experiencing violence with ‘Borderline Personality Disorder’ (BPD), which is characterized by “a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships”. 77 In addition, members of our Working Group noted the increasing number of young teenage women and children who have witnessed abuse who are being diagnosed with various 16
Page 1 and 2: REDUCING BARRIERS TO SUPPORT Discus
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS Introduction .............
Page 5 and 6: ecommended across the sectors. We a
Page 7 and 8: TERMINOLOGY The terminology we use
Page 9 and 10: violence can lead to chronic health
Page 11 and 12: should be guided by the best intere
Page 13 and 14: GEOGRAPHY In a nation-wide study ex
Page 15 and 16: access support, Transition Houses m
Page 17: identified a need for increased chi
Page 21 and 22: abandon the potential helping servi
Page 23 and 24: many service providers in the VAW r
Page 25 and 26: under the Health Authorities which
Page 27 and 28: Women-centred harm reduction approa
Page 29 and 30: V IC TOR IA WOM EN’S S EX U AL AS
Page 31 and 32: NEXT STEPS In this paper we have pr
Page 33 and 34: 1 BC Centre of Excellence for Women
Page 35 and 36: 53 Kirson, F. (2004). Women and Ben
Page 37 and 38: from http://www.coalescing-vc.org/v
Page 39 and 40: GLO S SARY O F TERMS Gender Identit
Page 41 and 42: NAT UR E O F VI OLEN CE AN D A BUSE
Page 43 and 44: BC SO CI ETY O F TRANSI TION HO USE
Page 45: 119 Statistics Canada. (2001/02), J

reducing barriers to support - BC Society of Transition Houses

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