reducing barriers to support - BC Society of Transition Houses

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Houses and Safe Homes in BC and the Yukon for supporting women fleeing violence who have varying levels of mental wellness and substance use. The project runs from February 9, 2009 until August 8, 2011. As part of the project, BCSTH has teamed up with the BC Women’s Hospital’s Woman Abuse Response Team (WARP), who have done extensive work in the area through their Building Bridges project. The WARP team will be facilitating focus groups with women who have experienced violence and who have varying levels of mental wellness and substance use to learn about their experiences accessing or attempting to access services. In addition, BCSTH will be distributing a survey to our 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. The project is guided by a Working Group comprised of 16 people: 7 5 women who have experienced violence and who have varying levels of mental wellness and substance use (who have or have not accessed Transition Housing) 6 representatives from the violence against women’s sector (from within BCSTH Membership) 5 representatives from the mental wellness and substance use sector. The Working Group is charged with the task of collaboratively developing Promising Practices that are relevant for the various communities throughout BC and the Yukon. In addition to this Working Group, we are forming an ‘Implementation Committee’ comprised of management, policy makers and other stakeholders from each sector who have agreed to vet any materials that come from this process. We will also be meeting with women who have experienced violence and who have varying levels of mental wellness and substance use to get their ideas as the Promising Practices are developed. Upon completion of draft Promising Practices and a corresponding curriculum, the practices will be piloted by 6 pilot sites 8 across British Columbia. The piloting will be an opportunity for service recipients and staff within the violence against women’s sector to test the practices and to provide valuable feedback including revisions and reaffirmations. 3
TERMINOLOGY The terminology we use in our discussions of violence against women, mental wellness and substance use is very important and for BCSTH very deliberate. We have attached a glossary in the Appendix that outlines some of the terms used in this paper, but an understanding of some key terminology will be useful before engaging in further discussion. VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN 9 BCSTH uses the term ‘violence against women’ (VAW) as it captures violence a woman experiences from her partner but is also applicable for other people she may be oppressed by (for example, family, landlord, co-worker and broader social systems). The term can be applied to many types of harmful behavior directed at women and girls because of their sex. 10 According to the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, violence against women includes: “Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.” 11 Violence against women hinges on control and domination. A woman’s experiences with violence are shaped by her social context, including her experiences with and ability to access systems, her social or economic status, ability, Aboriginality, citizenship/nationalities, class, education, ethnicity, experience of colonization, gender, geographic location, health, occupation, refugee/immigrant status, religion, and sexuality. 12 See Appendix for information on the nature of abuse. In many cases, violence precedes problems associated with mental wellness and substance use. MENTAL WELLNESS & SUBSTANCE USE “People with addictions combined with other health and social challenges have acquired many labels, including hard to house, hard to reach, multiple barriered or multiply diagnosed. The various labels layered onto this group often perpetuate the demonization of this vulnerable population by implicitly blaming them for failing to conform to various systems....” 13 4
Page 1 and 2: REDUCING BARRIERS TO SUPPORT Discus
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS Introduction .............
Page 5: ecommended across the sectors. We a
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 and 18: identified a need for increased chi
Page 19 and 20: BARRIERS TO ACCESSING SUPPORT “Ve
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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