I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

Issue 2011-2 728-602 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC V6B 1P2 Tel 604.633.2506 Fax 604.633.2507 www.endingviolence.org

BY VIKKI REYNOLDS PHD RCCWWW.VIKKIREYNOLDS.CA

Inanti-violence work we act in solidarity with sharedpurposes and shoulder each other up to resist patriarchy

and misogyny and create a society that is safer for everyone.Accountable men, including transgender men, work as alliesalongside women anti-violence workers to address men’s powerand to transform a rape culture. But as “women” we are alsorequired to act as allies to each other as we are not all in equalpositions of power or risk in relation to this work. In activistcultures an ally is a person who belongs to a group which hasparticular privileges, and who works alongside people fromgroups that are oppressed in relation to that privilege. The hope is tocreate change and increase social justice in relation to this oppression.

Being an ally is not a fixed position, it is fluid, and based on thedifferent domains of our identity and the access to power we holdin relation to that domain. This means that at times, I will be anally to a person around one domain of power, but they may be anally to me around a different part of our identities (Crenshaw,1995). For example, I am required to act as an ally to a womanwho identifies as queer because of my access to heterosexualprivilege. In another moment, the same woman may be requiredto be an ally to me around issues of class background, ororganizational position. Ally work is fluid, meaning that we needto attend to the power that is present, back each other up and bein solidarity with each other across the differences that divide us(Reynolds, 2010a).

EVA BC and CCWS staff were all on hand to share this extraordinaryevening when EVA BC Executive Director Tracy Porteous receiveda Lifetime Achievement Award from the Office of the Representativefor Children and Youth. See page 16.

A large gathering wason hand when EVABC’s initiative to breakthe silence on vio-lence against womenwas formally launchedin July 2011 at the BCLions training facility inSurrey. See page 12.

Nancy Boyce

Britt Permien

EVA BC and CCWS staff, Sania Ahmed,Shelly Battensby, Nicki Breuer,

Jasmine Cadenhead, Natalie Hill, Rachel King, Susan Guttridge, Ministry of Public Safety and

Solicitor General, Vikki Reynolds, Kate Rossiter, Vancouver & Lower Mainland

Multicultural Family Support Services Society,Avandi Wallace, West Coast LEAF.

This newsletter is published two times per year andprovided free of charge to EVA BC members. Theviews expressed by newsletter contributors do notnecessarily reflect those of the EVA BC Board and/orstaff. Submit your ideas, articles and photos forfuture newsletters to boyce@endingviolence.org.

EVA BC core services are supported by the Ministryof Public Safety and Solicitor General and theVancouver Coastal Health Authority.

Charitable # 13926 5821 RR0001

We are happy to be bringing you our latest newsletter with the featurearticle The Role of Allies in Anti-Violence Work by well-known communityactivist, instructor and therapeutic supervisor Vikki Reynolds. Vikki’sarticle really speaks to the core values held by many of us around theimportance of mutual support as we work to create social change and sup-port women impacted by violence in ways that are honest, aware andgrounded in relationship. Her message is highly relevant as we continueto carry out our work against the backdrop of the high number of sexualassaults in this province, the ongoing tragedy of the Highway of Tears andthe review of the Pickton investigation by the Missing Women‘s Inquiry.

In keeping with the theme of mutual support and collaboration, you willfind articles contributed by a number of our colleagues in the sector whoalso work on behalf of women, such as The FREDA Centre, West CoastLEAF, and the We Can BC Campaign. There are also contributions frommember programs that include updates in the “News from around BC”section and an article that speaks to the framework and value of forgive-ness therapy by STV Counsellor Susan Guttridge of the Vernon Women’sTransition House Society.

As always, we have been incredibly busy here at EVA BC. Please take alook at updates on our activities and initiatives such as the multi-year BeMore Than a Bystander campaign that we launched in July with the BCLions Football team. We also want to tell you about a brand new initiativewe are launching in partnership with Legal Services Society focused onincreasing the safety of Indigenous women through knowledge sharingand fostering relations. This 2-year project aims to promote access to jus-tice through a creative partnership that links the anti-violence sector, thelegal profession and Aboriginal leaders and will be delivered byAboriginal women who are lawyers, educators, researchers and anti-vio-lence experts.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their under-standing and support around the unavoidable postponement of ourAnnual Training Forum, Emerging Issues in Anti-Violence: Working toAchieve Safety, Justice and Healing for Women. We hope that you will be ableto reschedule to be with us for this exciting event in March 2012.

With respect,

When serving in the role of ally it is important that Ilocate myself in my privilege. When I work with anti-violence workers and women in the impoverishedcommunity of Vancouver ’s Downtown Eastside, I findways to be public about the fact that I have neverlived on the street or struggled with substance abuse.I do this because I am sometimes read as someonewho has had these experiences, and these misunder-standings invite a trust and sister-feel ing that isneither earned nor present. It is important that I donot pass for a woman who has had these experiences,as women may feel more affinity and safety than myprivileges warrant. Later, a woman may feel that theyhave been lied to or that some truth has been withheldfrom them. I make my privilege known as an act ofaccountability for my access to power and as a beginningplace for trust to grow. 1

Allies choose to be accountable for their power. Ouraccess to power makes us hard to trust, as we candecide to back down, not notice, be silent, minimize,accommodate, or smooth things over. The role of theally is to make space for the person who is oppressedto be able to step into and be heard, and have theirwords matter and hold power. As an ally I holdmyself, my actions and words, accountable to the personwho is oppressed. The ally makes space and thenworks to get out of the way. A feminist with whiteskin privilege talking on behalf of women who areracialized risks further marginalizing the woman sheseeks to be an ally to. The ally may need to makespace and not speak because allies are not qualified tospeak. As an ally to a colonized woman I am unqualifiedto speak because I do not know colonization outsideof an academic understanding and teachings fromwitnessing people’s suffering. I did not suffer colo-nization, I have not paid the price of this knowledge.Being an ally is hard work and not without risk, andespecially hard to get “ right”. But I always remindmyself the woman who needs me to be an ally in thismoment is the person who is being oppressed bypower, and that the risk to me is not the same. Allies

do not carry the burden, and when our actions areunskilled or fail the oppressed person pays the largestconsequences (Reynolds, 2010b).

Allies are invited in to speak when oppressed peoplecannot be heard. At times allies are the best people tospeak as the risks of backlash are high and a woman mayask an ally to speak. This is, however, risky and imper-fect and requires humility and accountability practicesand relationships of enough-trust, as well as practices ofnot stealing knowledge or appropriating experiences.

As anti-violence workers we can experience our workas very individual, which brings with it continualinvitations to division. We are separated from eachother as workers and organizations competing forscarce resources in the midst of overwhelming need ina political climate of greed and privileged individualism.Invitations to division abound in our communitywork, and we can be seduced into judging other workers,their positions, and their professions. In contexts ofadversity, the point is not to figure out which anti-violence workers and organizations to blame, but tothink of ways to help women and families and changethe social contexts that support violence in all itsforms. Our greatest resources for doing that are eachother. Doing solidarity invites anti-violence workersto be alongside each other because we need each other,and because it doesn’t serve woman and families forus to be divided off.

I try to build solidarity in all of the work that I do,whether it be activist, community, counselling, ortraining work. I hold close my desire to be in solidaritywith everyone who picks up anti-violence work. Thisinvites a leaning in towards the other. It reminds methat acting in a way that harms the dignity of anotherperson, especially publicly, is not in line with theethics I hold. I remind myself in these moments thatmy aim is not to be right, correct, or seen as smart.My aim is always moving toward solidarity, and so Ineed to act in a way that makes space for that personand me to be walking alongside each other.

One teaching from anti-oppression work that I holdclose is an understanding that there is always moresolidarity than we know of.

In Ecofeminism, Indian feminist physicist, VandanaShiva, and Maria Mies, a German feminist scholar,weave together feminism, activism and environmentalism.2

This positioning of environmentalism as activism hashad an impact on me, as it helped me begin to drawconnections between social movements and see theintersection and solidarity of multiple paths towardsglobal justice. Prior to this learning I had been part ofperpetrat ing the r i f t s between environmenta l i s tsand social justice activists, seeing them as separate,individual and competing projects. This separationended for me when I worked alongside a survivor oftorture from Nigeria, whose activism was environ-mentalism. Af ter working alongside this activist/environmentalist I could never again entirely separateone from the other. It is fabulous that fif teen yearslater, this division needs to be explained. This has mewondering in our collective anti-violence work whatother divisions and barriers are keeping us from seeingwho is in solidarity with us (Reynolds, 2010c).

I remind myself that there are some collective ethicswe share or we would not be meeting in this spacetogether. Working to address and resist violence andholding a feminist-informed anti-oppression stance ishard work that requires skill, moral courage, andcommitments to justice. I remind myself that no personis in this movement by accident. Our collective ethicshave brought us together, however imperfectly.

The collective ethics that I am talking about are thoseimportant points of connection that weave us togetheras anti-violence workers. We do not have to createperfect collective ethics, as points of departure anddistinctions in our ethical positioning can offer thegifts of diversity and broader possibilities. In most ofour work these collective ethics go unnamed, but theyare the basis for the sol idarity that brought ustogether and can hold us together.

Solidarity is not synonymous with unity. AmericaBracho is a medical doctor who works with LatinoHealth Access, and describes it as an Institute ofCommunity Participation. Bracho says, “Unity in acommunity is never going to be generalized. It will

occur only around certain issues. We do not seek tounify the community in any general way. We do how-ever seek to find and build a sense of common groundon particular issues.”3 She speaks about the inabilityeven for people in a small village in Mexico to beunited on any issue, and the basically racist assumptionthat Latinos in the United States should be united onmost issues. While holding onto a common ground onparticular issues and declining unity, workers atLatino Health Access also work purposefully todecl ine invitat ions for division. Doing sol idarityrequires discernment between division and difference.The point is not to achieve unity by smoothing off theedges of all differences, but to find points of connectionin relationships that bring forward an “intimacy thatdoes not annihilate difference”. 4

Being allies and working in solidarity does not meanthat we are ever hoping to achieve total agreement orthat shouldering each other up means always agreeingin our collective anti-violence work. We are requiredto create a cul ture of cr i t ique in which we canchallenge each other and hold our practices and theoriesup to scrutiny in order to serve our families andcommunities better. Being allies to each other in anti-violence work requires that we hold each other toaccount, but we are not acting as allies when judgmentand attack are used to silence other anti-violenceworkers and discredit them. Discerning critique fromattack is part of our work as allies. All activists workingin anti-oppression frameworks are familiar with theheart wrenching spiritual pain that comes when wereplicate oppression.

Our hope in being allies to each other and working insolidarity in anti-violence work is to change the socialcontext of patriarchy, violence, and oppression andnot to replicate it with each other.

Bishop, A. (1994). Becoming an ally: Breaking thecycle of oppression. Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada:Fernwood Publishing.

Bracho, A. (2000). An Institute of CommunityParticipation. Dulwich Centre Journal, No.3. Adelaide,Australia: Dulwich Publications.

Crenshaw, K. (1995). Mapping the margins:Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence againstwomen of colour. In K. Crenshaw, G. Gotanda, G.

Peller, & K. Thomas (Eds.), Critical race theory: Thekey writings that formed the movement (pp. 357-383).New York: The New Press.

Palmer (2003) in hooks, b. Teaching community:Pedagogy of Hope. New York: Routledge.

Reynolds, V. (2010a) Fluid and Imperfect AllyPositioning: Some Gifts of Queer Theory. Context.October 2010. Association for Family and SystemicTherapy, UK, 13-17.

Reynolds, V. (2010b). Doing Justice as a Path toSustainability in Community Work. http://www.taosinstitute.net/Websites/taos/ Images/PhDPrograms Complete Dissertations/ReynoldsPhD DissertationFeb2210.pdf

Reynolds, V. (2010c). A Supervision of Solidarity.Canadian Journal of Counselling, 44(3), 246-257.

Shiva, V., & Miles, M. (1993). Ecofeminism. Halifax,Nova Scotia: Fernwood Publications.

1 A thorough and accessible text on this subject isAnne Bishop’s

(1994).2Shiva & Mies (1993)3 Bracho (2000), pp. 2.4Palmer (2003), pp. 49.

The FREDA Centre is a joint collaboration of academics atSimon Fraser University (SFU) and grassroots communityand women’s organizations. Our mandate is to facilitate andconduct research on violence against women and children, inorder to raise awareness and effect policy. We emphasize participatoryaction research and qualitative approaches, as well as criticalanalysis of policy and legislation. The FREDA Centre is one ofseven centres across Canada that comprise the Alliance ofCanadian Research Centres on Violence, and is a networkparticipant for the Canadian Observatory on the JusticeSystem’s Response to Intimate Partner Violence.

The FREDA Centre is currently working on a number ofresearch and policy initiatives in partnership with EVA BC,which include an analysis of workplace domestic violence, thegeographical mapping of domestic violence incidents and services,and dual charging by police in domestic violence cases. TheGeographical Information System (GIS) Studyinvolves the use of geographic mapping to locate incidents ofdomestic and sexual violence, and anti-violence services availablefor women. A map of anti-violence services can then be super-imposed on a map of incidents to highlight gaps in services.

The Workplace Domestic Violence Study aims to assessthe scope and prevalence of the impact of domestic violence inthe workplace in order to inform the development of resourcesand training materials, workplace domestic violence policies,and legislative and regulatory reform.

Both EVA BC and FREDA are also members of theViolence Reduction Circle, an informal collaborativegroup of academic and community-based domestic violenceresearchers, senior policy-makers, clinicians, and serviceproviders hosted by the Centre for the Prevention andReduction of Violence (CPRV) at the Justice Institute ofBritish Columbia. The group will soon be launching the‘Rossiter Report,’ which reviews domestic violence preventionand reduction efforts in BC over the past decade. The reportserves as a basis for research on the costs of violence, and theinitiation of a consultation process to develop a provincial policyframework for domestic violence prevention and reduction in BC.

Since 1995, the FREDA Centre has been involved in a numberof collaborative research projects with local community groupssuch as the Philippine Women Centre, Vancouver LesbianConnection, MOSAIC, and Battered Women’s SupportServices, as well as organizations such as the BC Society ofTransition Houses. FREDA has also been involved in nationalprojects including the Canadian Observatory’s intimate partnerviolence policy scan, which is a comprehensive scan ofCanadian criminal justice policies relating to intimate partnerviolence. Through collaborations and partnerships withresearch partners at the national level, the provincial govern-ment, and local women’s organizations, FREDA works towardending the cycle of violence that continues to be a reality forthousands of women in Canada.

In November 2012, the FREDA Centre will be hosting theNational Research Day 2012, a conference that will engagelocal, provincial, and national researchers, policy-makers, andservice providers in a conversation about the continuum ofviolence against women, with a particular focus on sexualviolence. Please refer to our website for further details andupdates: www.fredacentre.com

BY KATHERINE ROSSITER, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, THE FREDA CENTRE

Men’s violence, and women’s courageous resistance to it, hasbeen depicted in countless art forms, from visual art toperformance art to the spoken word. On December 1 & 2,2011, Vancouverites have the opportunity to engage in thisimportant topic through one of the most tactile and personal artforms there is – dance.

For two nights the Atlantic Theatre Ballet of Canada will beperforming one of its most personal productions, Ghosts ofViolence, a ballet that tackles the issue of domestic vio-lence head-on, through the unique experiences of three cou-ples who come from various socio-economic positions insociety. The production was inspired by the New BrunswickSilent Witness Project, a campaign adopted by the CharlotteCounty Family Violence Committee that erects red, life-sizesilhouettes of women in public spaces to dramatically illustratethe impact of domestic violence in our society. Each silhouetterepresents a woman murdered by an intimate partner, anoccurrence which tragically happens an average of 78 times ayear in Canada.

When the women behind the Silent Witness Project met with thecreative minds at the Atlantic Theatre Ballet, Ghosts of Violence wasborn. It is inspired by the profound message of Silent Witness, andbrought to life by the creativity of Artistic Director andChoreographer Igor Dobrovolskiy, with theatre icon Sharon Pollock.

The ballet is co-presented by SFUWoodward’s and the We CanEnd All Violence AgainstWomen BC Campaign, who havejoined forces to make these showspossible. Both see Ghosts of Violence asan incredible opportunity to make the topicof violence against women approachable by people who otherwisemight think it is a problem of the past. Vancouver performancesalso fall within the 16 Days of Activism to End-Gender BasedViolence (November 25 - December 10), an internationally desig-nated period of mobilization to end violence against women.

“People don’t like to speak of this issue, but it’s an issue that isall around us,” Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada CEO SusanChalmers-Gauvin told the National Arts Centre, where theballet premiered to strong reviews in February of this year.

Sharon Pollock, the ballet’s dramaturge, echoed this sentiment,emphasizing how Ghosts of Violence is breaking ground bybringing the issue to an unlikely forum.

“The idea of using a social issue that we generally don’t thinkof as being the subject matter for an art form like ballet—whichwe often think of as elitist and classical—was intriguing,”Pollock was quoted as saying by the National Arts Centre.“Using this subject as the raw material to create a work of artthat at the same time speaks to all of us about a very contemporaryissue has been incredibly rewarding.”

We Can BC and SFU Woodward’s look forward to what willcertainly be a profoundly moving series of performancescomplemented by multimedia installations and creativeopportunities for public engagement. We hope to see you there.

December 1-2, 2011 at the Fei & Milton Wong Experimental Theatre 

Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, 149 W Hasting St, Vancouver, BC

Tickets for what is bound to be an incredible evening of dance anddialogue around how to end violence against women are available bycalling 604.873.3311 or visiting: http://www.wecanbc.ca/ghosts-violence-ballet.

BY NATALIE HILL, SECRETARY, WE CAN BC COALITION

In November of last year, thecoalition of West Coast LEAFand EVA BC submitted itsformal application to be part ofthe Missing WomenCommission of Inquiry, set upto investigate the disappear-ances and murders of dozensof women from Vancouver’s

Downtown Eastside and along the Highway of Tears inNorthern BC. In May 2011, Commissioner Wally Oppalgranted the coalition “limited participant” status in the Inquiry,thereby allowing it to access documents and apply to cross-examine witnesses. In addition, he also recommended that allcommunity groups, including West Coast LEAF and EVABC, be granted funding.

Despite the Commissioner’s repeated recommendations, thegovernment denied funding to all of the participants other thanthe police, the criminal justice branch, and a limited number ofaffected families. This made it difficult, if not impossible, forvital groups to participate.

In June 2011 there was a pre-hearing conference for groups toonce more convey their need for funding to the Commissioner,with the West Coast LEAF–EVA BC coalition making sub-missions before the Commission on June 27th. However,Deputy Attorney General David Loukidelis confirmed thegovernment’s unwavering denial of funding in July 2011. Dueto the government’s failure to fund counsel for communitygroups, EVA BC and West Coast LEAF regretfully withdrewfrom the Missing Women Inquiry. The coalition’s participationwould have been integral to this inquiry as it would haveworked to bring forth a substantive equality analysis of theissues concerning the missing women investigations.

Subsequently, the inquiry announced four lawyers, two ofwhom will be working pro bono, to represent communitygroups. The “amicus” lawyers are not an adequate solution tothe lack of funding as they will not be accountable to any indi-vidual client or group in this complex and adversarial process.

According to an article in the Dominion, the government isproviding funding for three lawyers for the Department ofJustice Canada, nine lawyers for the commission counsel, twolawyers for the Vancouver Police Department, two lawyers forthe Criminal Justice Branch, and one lawyer for the VancouverPolice Union – compared to only two lawyers for a limitednumber of the victims’ families and four for communitygroups. The fact is that these funding arrangements will resultin an inaccurate and unbalanced account of the missing womeninvestigations – essential marginalized voices will be silenced.

“The failure to fund counsel for Aboriginal, sex worker andfront line women’s organizations essentially shuts these groupsout of the Inquiry,” said EVA BC Executive Director TracyPorteous in an announcement about the coalition’s withdrawalfrom the inquiry. “We will not participate in an Inquiry that willnot listen to the voices of those who were closest to the missingand murdered women and their communities.”

In the same announcement, West Coast LEAF’s ExecutiveDirector, Kasari Govender, stated “Contrary to PremierClarke’s recent statements on the importance of Aboriginalwomen’s safety, the government’s decision on funding indicatesthat they don’t take seriously the safety of Aboriginal women,sex workers and women living in poverty. The failure to pro-vide adequate resources at this early stage does not bode wellfor the government’s commitment to implementing theCommissioner’s final recommendations.”

Out of the groups granted standing at the commission, mosthave withdrawn due to the lack of funding. A rally opposed theinquiry on its first day, October 11th.

BY SANIA AHMED, WEST COAST LEAF

The word forgiveness, combined in the same sentence as abuse,can certainly send people reeling back in their chairs. Duringhis workshop, Daniel Klassen even referred to forgiveness as“the new F-word!” – a notion I jokingly use with potentialgroup participants to ease their tension regarding the incredibleundertaking they are considering.

After much success using Klassen’s approaches in individualtherapy, I decided to incorporate the approach into a group set-ting. The Healing After Abuse therapy group combines thepsycho-educational aspects of abuse against women in relation-ships with Klassen’s 6 stage model of forgiveness therapy. Thestages include defining the injury, accusing the offender, own-ing the injury, restoring personal power, forgiving the injury,and restoring the self. The theoretical base of the group isfeminist therapy, and, due to the highly sensitive nature of thegroup, there is additional emphasis on building affect regulationskills. (Please note: the stage “confronting the offender” is donewithin the safe confines of the group via therapeutic activities anddoes not involve actually confronting the offender).

The group itself is 12 weeks in duration and follows apredictable pattern each session: check-in, discussion, break,activity, containment, check-out. Care is taken at the beginningof the group to discuss preconceived notions of forgiveness,feelings about forgiveness, and the process of forgiveness thatwill materialize throughout the group. I believe that choosingto have forgiveness and the process of forgiveness is an incrediblypersonal process, which can sometimes take a lifetime toachieve. Therefore, achieving forgiveness upon completion ofthe group is not an indicator of success. The process of forgive-ness is emotional, but the act of forgiving is cognitive: itinvolves a shift in perception. Success in the group involvesopening one’s self up to the possibility that the psychologicaleffects of abuse experiences and relational trauma can behealed. And, success involves movement toward improvedwell-being. Movement toward well-being often means somethingdifferent for each group participant. Accordingly, participants

are encouraged to set their own goals, their own visions of apreferred future. Through information sharing and varioustherapeutic activities throughout the group, these goals andvisions solidify; they become stronger; they take on a force oftheir own.

Myths about forgiveness frequently stem from inaccurate viewsof what it means to forgive. For example, a person mightbelieve that forgiveness means it isn’t okay to be angry or stayangry about an experience of relationship abuse. The belief thatshe shouldn’t be angry or outraged about what happened thenacts as a barrier which may prevent her from entering into theforgiveness process. In light of the many different beliefs peoplehold about forgiveness, a great deal of time is spent at thebeginning and throughout the group discussing and clarifyingmyths about forgiveness. There are ten myths about theforgiveness process which are examined throughout the group,and which assist participants in developing their own notions ofwhat it means to forgive, to let go (of anger, resentment, grief,and so forth), and to move on.

One of the myths about forgiveness is “When you forgive, youare saying that what happened was okay, or that what happeneddoesn’t matter”. The reality is that forgiveness is in no way anadmission that what happened was okay. Quite the opposite infact: forgiveness is a statement about the stupendous enormityof it. The “debt must be cancelled” because there is no hope forrepayment. Spending one’s life waiting for an apology, or forjustice, puts one’s life back into the hands of the offender(where healing becomes contingent upon the offender).Forgiveness is not conditional on the attitude or behaviour ofthe offender. “Canceling the debt” means that one accepts thereality that the offender has nothing to offer that will equal orsatisfy the demands of what he/she did.

Another myth is “Forgiving those you love goes without sayingand can be taken for granted – it is forgiving others that is mostdifficult.” In reality, the deepest wounds and most painfulinjuries are often those committed by the people who proclaim

BY SUSAN GUTTRIDGE, STOPPING THE VIOLENCE COUNSELLOR, VERNON WOMEN’S TRANSITION HOUSE SOCIETY

to love and care about us the most. When the ones we love andtrust hurt us, the persisting notion is that they choose to breaka promise. This very notion demonstrates disrespect, minimiza-tion of our needs and humanness, and carelessness about thequality of the relationship. Forgiving these wounds ofteninvolve the most difficult work.

The myth “When forgiveness is complete, it must result inreconciliation” is also exposed within the group. In reality,forgiveness is independent of reconciliation. It takes only oneperson to forgive, and at least two people to reconcile.Reconciliation may be neither the desired goal nor a safechoice. We can have forgiveness of those who have hurt us, butthen firmly establish new safe boundaries for those who refuseto take responsibility for their abusive behaviour.

Other myths discussed throughout the group include “The linein the sand” (the notion that some acts are forgivable and othersare not); “Forgiveness ignores justice” (focusing on how unfair

forgiveness seems); “Forgiving cancels the consequences to theoffender” (it is actually the one forgiving who is set free);“Forgiveness takes away the pain” (forgiveness is a painful journey;it sets in motion the grieving process, making it possible forindividuals to carry their loss – not erase the loss).

Discussing the myths and preconceived notions about forgive-ness is a powerful process. It calls into play many core beliefsand values, and encourages participants to have an open mindand a curious attitude. Working through the process of forgive-ness has been a significant element along the healing journey ofthe women who have completed the group. Consistent with thenotion that developing healthy relationships is central to healingrelationship injuries, group participants have frequentlycommented that connecting with other women, and havingtheir stories truly heard without judgment, has been one of themost impacting experiences of the group.

ANNUAL TRAINING FORUMSAVE THE DATES!MARCH 1 & 2, 2012Working to AchieveSafety, Justiceand Healing for Women and Children

The Convention on theElimination of DiscriminationAgainst Women (CEDAW)was adopted by the UN in1979 and nowadays, is generallyrecognized as “an internationalbill of rights for women”. Since2009, the West Coast LegalEducation and Action Fund

has published a CEDAW Report Card displaying the gradesthe organization would give BC according to CEDAWstandards. Reviewing the 2011 CEDAW report can be aharrowing experience, as many grades have decreased since 2010.The Social Assistance and Poverty category received a highermark than last year, but others have seen a significant drop:

BC has consistently failed to receive a grade beyond an F forthis category. Commissioner Leonard Doust acknowledges thatlegal aid is “a fourth pillar of our steadfast commitment to a justsociety”, yet this does not align with BC’s current practice. Forexample, the financial eligibility threshold is far too low,preventing many low-income earners from qualifying whenrealistically, they are unable to pay for legal representation. Inearly 2011, then-Attorney General Barry Penner claimed thatlegal aid does not need to be funded any further and that “thereare only so many tax dollars to go around”. This is misguided,however, due to the fact that under-funding legal aid actuallycosts society in a number of ways.

There was a minor improvement between 2010 and 2011, withthe grade shifting to a D for this year. BC’s overall poverty ratehas been the highest in Canada for 11 years and the province’ssocial assistance rates remain at levels “that do not allow individualsand families to provide for their basic necessities of life”.Minor light at the end of the tunnel came in the form of anannouncement from the BC government: an additional $65million would be devoted over the next three years to incomeassistance. Another potential light shines in a Poverty ReductionStrategy plan, which would “legislate targets and timelines for

poverty reduction and establish oversight and accountabilitymechanisms to monitor progress.” However, this bill has notreceived government support – despite the fact that researchshows implementation of the plan would save money forthe province.

One year ago, BC received a C in this category. This year, thegrade dropped to a D-. In 2008, the UN CEDAW Committeerecommended that the government investigate cases ofAboriginal women who have gone missing or been murdered.BC has the highest number of cases of missing and murderedAboriginal women in the entire country. Although a MissingWomen Commission of Inquiry was finally convened, WestCoast LEAF and many others withdrew from participation dueto the government’s refusal to fund community groups.This decision has effectively shut these groups out of theprocess and silenced “the very voices necessary to uncover thesystemic reasons for the flawed investigations and the justicesystem’s inaction”.

The UN CEDAW Committee recognized the “disproportionatenumber of Aboriginal, African-Canadian and other women andgirls of colour incarcerated in Canadian prisons”. Availablestatistics support this statement, as the number of Aboriginalwomen has increased by a startling 90% in the last 10 years.This year’s category grade is C+, one step below last year’sresult, with one crucial factor contributing to this decrease: theCorrectional Service of Canada (CSC) Management Protocolof prolonged solitary confinement for “high risk” femaleprisoners. There has been a call by a coalition of organizations,including West Coast LEAF, to cease its use partially dueto discriminatory application of the Protocol with regards tofemale Aboriginal prisoners. The coalition anticipates thepractice’s abolishment.

The 2011 CEDAW Report Card can be found at www.westcoastleaf.org

BY AVANDI WALLACE, WEST COAST LEAF

This groundbreaking partnership between EVA BC and theBC Lions aimed at substantially increasing awareness andunderstanding about the impact of men’s violence againstwomen was officially launched in July 2011 with a mediaconference at the BC Lions training facility in Surrey.

Government officials on hand to make the announcementwere The Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of PublicWorks and Government Services and Minister for Status ofWomen and Mary McNeil, BC’s Minister of Children and

Family Development, as well as BC Lions General Managerand Head Coach Wally Buono and EVA BC’s ExecutiveDirector, Tracy Porteous. Also in attendance were EVA BCsupporters and staff and a contingent representing the BCLions that included team owner, Senator David Braley,President & CEO Dennis Skulsky, Vice President,Business, George Chayka, and the BC Lions players whoare the “Be More Than a Bystander” spokespersons, JRLarose, Travis Lulay and Angus Reid.

In October, the project benefited from the support ofthree new partners who joined the initiative. A thirdmajor founding partner, Encana Corporation, came onboard to join Status of Women Canada and theMinistry of Children and Family Development tosupport all aspects of this two-year initiative whilemunicipal partners the City of Vancouver and the Cityof Surrey are providing significant space for posters in

bus shelters as well as supporting the school-basededucation aspect of the program. Global Television hasalso joined to lend their support as a media partner.

For complete information and updates on “Be More Than a Bystander”, visit our website at http://www.endingviolence.org/node/1112.

A raging forest fire threatens to destroy the homes and lives ofall its inhabitants. Animals, large and small panic and run tothe edge of the forest to watch the devastation unfold. Thecrisis is horrifyingly real, monstrous in magnitude, and sure toconsume the safety and security of every creature living there.Dukdukdiya, the little hummingbird, was the only one whorefused to abandon the forest.

The situation was dire, yet the forest animals chose to donothing, each with their own explanation of why any action theywould take would be futile. Still, the fire consumed more andmore of everything they held dear. The little hummingbird flewto the stream, picked up a single drop of water in her beak andflew back to drop it on the fire.

Back and forth, bead by bead, the little hummingbird persisted,ignoring the explanations and excuses as to why the othercreatures were unable to assist her in this monumental effort.

Finally, a large bear looked up and asked her what she wasdoing. Without pausing from the enormity of her mission, thelittle hummingbird looked down at all the animals and said “Iam doing what I can.”

This parable, simply told, is one that for me, also aptlydescribes the work of every individual committed to stoppingthe fire that is violence against women. It mirrors the manyefforts of those who live intimately with the impacts of violenceand work to create change: the family and friends of missingand murdered women; those who post pictures of loved oneson websites chronicling heartbreaking tragedies in the hopes ofcreating a movement; anti-violence workers, responders,activists, counsellors and policymakers; any and all who answerthe call to stop the violence against women and girls. Thestory of the hummingbird doing what it can will resonatewith readers who can identify with the choices every individualhas the power to make when faced with seemingly insurmount-able odds.

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas has written a parable for theenvironment that may also be aptly applied to the issue ofviolence against women. It is both a call to commit to actionand a validation to those who tirelessly work to support andadvocate for women impacted by violence and abuse.

Michael Yahgulanaas lives in Masset, a village in Haida Gwaiiand has dedicated his life to social and environmental issues. TheFlight of the Hummingbird imparts his passionate belief in thepower of the small. Foreword by Nobel Peace prize winner,Wangari Maathai, who planted seven trees in Kenya, an act thatbegan a movement of individuals planting more than 30 milliontrees across Kenya. Afterword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama,Nobel Prize recipient, whose 72 books carry the message of non-violence, universal responsibility, and compassion. This best selleris available in five languages.

BY NICKI BREUER, ODIN BOOKS

The role of Program Managers at Victim Services and CrimePrevention Division has been expanded to include both VictimServices (Police-based and Community-based) and ViolenceAgainst Women Programs (STV, CWWA, Outreach andMulticultural Outreach). This will help to streamline commu-nication and enhance the Division’s ability to respond to localneeds. This was communicated to Programs and Contractorsin a letter dated October 6th, 2011.

Includes: Burns Lake, Fort St. James, Fraser Lake, Houston,Smithers, Vanderhoof, 100 Mile House, Alexis Creek, AnahimLake, Quesnel, Williams Lake, Mackenzie, McBride, PrinceGeorge, Valemount

Fraser River Vancouver andNorthern BCIncludes: Coquitlam, Maple Ridge, Port Coquitlam, PortMoody, Dease Lake, Hazelton, Kitimat, New Aiyansh,Terrace, Fort Nelson, Chetwynd, Dawson Creek, Fort St. John,Moberly Lake, Tumbler Ridge, Masset, Prince Rupert, QueenCharlotte City, Atlin and Lower Post

Fraser Valley and South IslandIncludes: Abbotsford, Agassiz, Chilliwack, Hope, Mission,Pender Island, Port Renfrew, Salt Spring Island, Sooke,Victoria, Duncan, Ladysmith, Shawnigan Lake

Kootenay and Suburban VancouverIncludes: Castlegar, Creston, Kaslo, Nakusp, Nelson, Salmo,Cranbrook, Elkford, Fernie, Invermere, Kimberley, Sparwood,Grand Forks, Midway, Trail, Burnaby, Delta, NewWestminster, Richmond

North IslandIncludes: Port Alberni, Ucluelet, Bella Bella, Bella Coola,Courtney, Alert Bay, Port Hardy, Port McNeill, Nanaimo,Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Powell River, Campbell River,Gold River

Okanagan, Sea to Sky, andSouth Central BCIncludes: Kelowna, Golden, Revelstoke, Salmon Arm,Armstrong, Vernon, Keremeos, Oliver, Osoyoos, Penticton,Princeton, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Lillooet,Squamish, Whistler, Sechelt, Ashcroft, Chase, Clearwater,Clinton, Kamloops, Merritt

Surrey White Rock andVancouver ProperIncludes: Langley, Surrey, White Rock, Vancouver

CONTRIBUTED BY JASMINE CADENHEAD & RACHEL KING

The Family Resource Centre (FRC) of Invermere is opening thefirst dedicated facility for the Safe Home program in theColumbia Valley. This opportunity has been made availablethrough the donation of a house, rent-free, by a local organizationin our community. The house provides three fully furnished bed-rooms, kitchen, dining and living room, and playroom. The officeof the support workers is located in the safe home allowing accessto comprehensive support systems, safety and guidance. Havingthis dedicated space will provide a necessary and complementarysupport to the Women’s Information and Safe Home Program.

The safe home will provide an opportunity for longer stays andgive women direct access to support workers who can helpwomen and their families find new jobs, seek counseling andaddictions treatment and other local community programs.

Presently the FRC supervises a number of private safe homesthat do a superb job of covering short-term stays. These homeswill continue to be available to women to access.

Our town has been tremendously generous with the set up ofour safe home, with donations ranging from clothing and bed-ding to many large new furniture items. The home has a verywarm welcome feel and we look forward to welcoming our firstguest in the very near future.

CONTRIBUTED BY SHELLY BATTENSBY

Robson Valley Support Society’s Safe Shelter Program presentedits very first V-Day event on April 8th, 2011 to the communityof Valemount.

The benefit performance of V-Day Valemount: A Memory, AMonologue, A Rant and A Prayer 2011 was delivered in glam-orous fashion with a cast poster and usher at the door, a pre-showevent with candlelit tables, smartly dressed men serving up appetiz-ers and mocktails at the Bar None, and a charity raffle event. Localsupport from the Valemount Community Forest and the RoyalCanadian Legion #266 Ladies Auxiliary made the event a reality. Butthe highlight of the night was most definitely the monologues -each delivered with an intensity worthy of their message.

Co-organizers Shelly Battensby and Donalda Beeson pulledtogether 30 volunteers for the evening’s event, including 11men and 3 youth. This type of theatre was a first for this community,but the audience reviews and passion of the cast are great indicatorsthat it won’t be the last time!

Funds raised from this event went towards Robson ValleySupport Society to be used for violence prevention programsinvolving men and boys.

V-Day is a global initiative to stop violence against women and girlsthrough creative events that increase awareness, raise funds and revi-talize existing anti-violence groups. Last year, there were 5,400 V-Dayevents around the world. So far $75 million has been raised for thecause and 300 million people have been reached. (Annalee Grant)

EVA BC’s Executive Director Tracy Porteous, was awardeda Lifetime Achievement Award at the Representative forChildren and Youth’s Awards of Excellence onThursday, October 13, 2011 at the Morris J. WoskCentre for Dialogue. The award recognizes her dedicationto improving the lives of children, youth and familiesacross BC for over 30 years. For complete information onthe Representative for Children and Youth’s Awards ofExcellence 2011, please go to http://www.rcybc.ca/Content/Awards%202011/2011-Awards-of-Excellence.asp

Congratulations, Tracy!

The Ending Violence Association of BC and the AboriginalSection of Legal Services Society are partnering in a 2-yearproject that will provide knowledge sharing opportunities forAboriginal staff and leadership within Aboriginal organiza-tions in BC, on and off reserve, related to criminal justice,family justice and child protection laws, policies and practicesthat directly affect women who have experienced violence.Funded by the Ontario Law Foundation’s Access to JusticeFund, the project will be delivered by Aboriginal women whoare lawyers, educators, researchers and anti-violence experts.

The project aims to promote access to justice through acreative partnership that links the anti-violence sector, thelegal profession and Aboriginal leaders. Building capacity,particularly in rural and remote communities, is also key aswomen and children are at heightened risk in isolatedcommunities with fewer local resources.

Beginning in December 2011, the two-year initiative plansto engage more than 700 Aboriginal staff and leadershipwithin Aboriginal organizations across BC, who in turnwill assist Aboriginal people in BC communities relative toviolence against women. Public legal education curriculumand resource development will include information aboutcriminal justice, family justice and child protection poli-cies, legislation and practices related to women’s safety andre-victimization.

Many women are re-victimized by the very services andresponses set up to help them. Our project will focus onempowering communities to assist individuals tounderstand their rights. The project aims to encouragecommunities to discuss practical ways to improve safetyand access to justice for women and children and helpcommunities develop community safety plans thatwill help increase women’s and children’s safety fromdomestic and sexual violence.

The Worker Safety Handbook that EVA BC has beendeveloping in the past year will soon be completed andavailable on our website. The handbook has been devel-oped in response to information provided by STVCounselling, STV Outreach and Community Based VictimService programs throughout the province in the Workplace-Related Violence and Worker Safety Survey that we conductedin late 2010. At that time, 70% of survey respondents indi-cated they felt their safety was at risk at work. The hand-book cites issues and concerns raised by workers in the fieldand offers best practices guidelines to increase safety in theworkplaces of anti-violence programs, as well as samplesof policies and procedures.

EVA BC Program Manager Harjit Kaur attended thesymposium Violence in the Lives of Muslim Girls and Women:Creating Safe Spaces for Dialogue, Reflection, and Action heldin London, Ontario in September 2011. This event wasjointly sponsored by the Muslim Resource Centre forSocial Support and Integration and the University ofWestern Ontario Centre for Research and Education onViolence against Women and Children. The purpose of theSymposium was to bring together a geographically repre-sentative group of academic and community leaders toengage in dialogue and reflection regarding the issueof violence in the lives of Muslim girls and womenin Canada.

Presentations at the symposium included a keynote on“Contextualizing Violence Against Muslim Women” and thepanel presentations: Muslim Girls and Women: Who are we?;Untangling the Complexities of Culture and Faith; Racism,Islamophobia and Acts of Violence against Muslim Women andGirls; and Media Portrayals of Muslim Men, Women and Girls:How popular notions impact our communities.

CCWS helps BC communities develop new models and improveexisting models of cross-sector coordination on violence againstwomen. Learn more at www.endingviolence.org/ccws.

In March 2011, 127 people attended the regional gathering,Sharing, Gathering, Honouring: Increasing Safetyfor Aboriginal Women, Youth and Communities thatCCWS held in Terrace in partnership with NorthwestCommunity College. The gathering focused on strengtheningcollaborations and increasing capacity among Aboriginal com-munities, anti-violence services and coordination initiatives toaddress violence against Aboriginal women in BC’s Northwest.

Following in the footsteps of the gathering and discussiongroups held in Aboriginal communities about increasingsafety, CCWS has developed the resource documentIncreasing Safety for Aboriginal Women:Key Themes and Resources. This 11-page resource toolsummarizes ideas about increasing safety raised in thesediscussions by people in Aboriginal communities, Aboriginalservices, mainstream services, and coordination committees onsexual and domestic violence. It also discusses engaging withAboriginal leadership and services that may be able to helpand offers a list of selected resources.

CCWS is working to integrate a comprehensive approachemphasizing the involvement of Aboriginal communities andservice providers into all its community development work andis in the process of building connections with Aboriginalleadership. We have been meeting with Northern Society forDomestic Peace in Smithers regarding working in partnershipin several First Nations communities in the Hazelton area andwith urban Aboriginal women in the town of Houston. Effortsto secure funding to increase the scope of this work have alsobeen taking place and include the development of a fundingproposal and connecting with a number of organizations andindividuals regarding support for this work.

To view videos of keynote speakers from the Northwest RegionalGathering or download the resource document IncreasingSafety for Aboriginal Women: Key Themes and Issues,go to http://endingviolence.org/node/1076.

CCWS recently received a response from BC SolicitorGeneral Shirley Bond relative to a letter sent to herexpressing our concern about safety for women on BChighways. In our letter, we outlined that there should becoordination between public safety and the ministerresponsible for highways. We are happy to report that theSolicitor General’s reply expresses her concern around thedisappearance and death of women in our province and statesthat she has “…asked Ministry staff to contact staff from theMinistry of Transportation and Infrastructure to helpidentify potential opportunities for collaboration in addressingsafety for women and girls on the highways, particularlyalong Highway 16.” CCWS will be watching for futureupdates on this issue and will keep you posted.

CCWS is working in partnership with Legal Services Societyto develop a resource for lawyers working in family law to helpthem access information about risk indicators in cases whereviolence in the relationship may exist. The brochure, with theworking title “A Lawyer’s Guide to Intimate PartnerViolence”, will provide a definition of domestic violence,outline risk indicators and offer information about steps thatcan be taken to help keep women safe, as well as suggestedresources. Costs of the brochure, which will be completed byMarch 2012, are being covered by a grant from the DomesticViolence Prevention Fund of the Ministry of Public Safety andSolicitor General.

Through their constant interactions with coordination ini-tiatives and workers around the province, CCWS staff haveidentified the following trends as issues that are emergingor ongoing in the field. CCWS is a forum for discussingthe challenges of policy and program implementation andresolving those challenges. When communities identifyissues such as those below, CCWS Regional Coordinatorswork with community stakeholders to address the issue atthe local level. When an issue cannot be addressed at thelocal level and CCWS recognizes a province-wide “trend”emerging, we endeavour to address the issue at a provinciallevel through the CCWS Working Group.• Sexual assault: implementation of third party reporting at the

local and regional levels; the need for a provincial cross-sectorpolicy; and coordinated responses with health services

for Women’s SafetyCOMMUNITY COORDINATION

• The need to strengthen collaboration between Aboriginal com-munities, mainstream services and coordination committees

• Committees seeking support for developing high risk teamsand implementation of VAWIR policy

• Extreme shortage of funding and personnel in justice systemand social services, responders stretched very thin resultingin court delays and long waitlists for services and inability tocarve out time for coordination

:In May 2011, CCWS Legal Analyst Gisela Ruebsaat andRegional Coordinator Gail Edinger presented at the 2-dayContinuing Legal Education Society conference: “DomesticViolence and the Law: Identifying Risk, Creating Safety”.Their two presentations “Safety Planning in Context”, andInformation Sharing in Woman Abuse Cases addressed anaudience of lawyers in all areas, Crown prosecutors, police offi-cers, social workers, family caseworkers and victim advocates.

At the request of theYukon Department of Justice, CCWS recently delivered anonline PowerPoint presentation via teleconference on communitycoordination and strategic planning for women’s safety to over20 cross-sector members of the Yukon’s Violence AgainstWomen Framework Committee.

CCWS facilitated a group discussion with a focus onincreasing connections between Kitamaat Village services andanti-violence services in Kitimat in May 2011. The discussionwas attended by participants who represented anti-violence andhealth services.

In June2011, CCWS Regional Coordinator Gail Edinger and membersof the Vernon Integrated Case Assessment Team, RCMP Sgt.Robb Daly and Debby Hamilton from the Vernon CBVS,presented in Merritt to 20 members of the Nicola ValleyViolence Against Women in Relationships CoordinationCommittee. The focus was a capacity building session aboutcommunity coordination in the Nicola Valley region andbuilding a high risk team.

: CCWS Regional Coordinator GailEdinger co-presented the session Building a VAWIR Committee toAddress Highest Risk in Whistler on September 29 & 30 with Sgt.Robb Daly and Debby Hamilton from the North OkanaganIntegrated Case Assessment Team. Over 60 participants attended thistwo-day training to develop a regional VAWIR Committee to worktowards Integrated Case Assessment Teams in each of the four follow-ing communities: Pemberton, Mt. Currie, Squamish and Whistler.Participants included members from four police detachments (includingTribal Police), Ministry of Children and Family Development,Aboriginal and First Nations service providers, health, mental health,corrections, Crown and women and victim services.

Safe Choices works to end abuse and create healthy, respectfulrelationships for lesbian, bisexual, Two-Spirit and trans women byoffering support and education that empowers women and enhancesthe capacity of our communities to respond to this issue. Learnmore at www.endingviolence.org/safe_choices.

EVA BC was pleased to welcome Bridgid McGowan to ourstaffing group as the new Safe Choices Program Coordinator inJuly 2011, following in the capable footsteps of Cathy Welch.Bridgid brings a great deal of knowledge and experience in the fieldto this position and has been busy developing upcoming work-shops, informational program materials and a social media presencefor the program that includes a Safe Choices Facebook page!

Goals for the program include improving its accessibility toqueer folks who are also located in other marginalized positionsand to queer youth. Safe Choices is also looking at developingfuture training addressing issues related to violence that thosein polyamorous relationships experience, and that trans folksexperience when transitioning.

A workshop to service providers regarding same sex/gender violencein relationships was delivered in October 2011 at the BC Society ofTransition Houses annual conference held in Richmond. Free work-shops available to queer women in the community are often held at theLion’s Den on Commercial Drive in Vancouver. After the Honeymoon:Communication and Problem Solving was held in October andKnowing Me, Knowing You: Negotiating Self and Togetherness inIntimate Relationships is being offered on November 26, 2011.

For complete information on upcoming Safe Choices workshops,please visit the EVA BC Events Calendar athttp://www.endingviolence.org/event. To find out more aboutother Safe Choices services, please contact program coordinatorBridgid McGowan at safechoices@endingviolence.org orby phone at 778-988-5409.

Our best wishes and appreciation for all the amazing work theydid for EVA BC go out to Cathy and Tory.Cathy has returnedto her work as a STV Counsellor and Program Manager atCowichan WAVAW in Duncan and Tory has returned to herroots in the political realm as the fundraising coordinator forMayor Gregor Robertson and Vision Vancouver in the upcom-ing 2011 municipal election.

In July 2011, SafeChoices welcomedBridgid McGowanas its new ProgramC o o r d i n a t o r .Bridgid is a queerfemme who hasworked in the anti-violence movementsince the mid 1980’s

in a variety of roles including front line activist, educator, crisisintervention worker, individual and group counsellor, programmanager and performing artist. She developed an interest inaddressing sexualized assault and relationship violence amongqueer women early on, and began her journey of learning aboutthe complex dynamics involved and assisting queer womenexperiencing violence. When she is not coordinating the SafeChoices Program she continues to work as a counsellor in aStopping the Violence program and in private practice, andsometimes finds time to perform as a singer/songwriter!

Lau Mehes has joinedthe EVA BC/CCWSteam as our newA d m i n i s t r a t i v eAssistant.Lau is arecent graduate ofthe Women’s andGender Studies andHistory programs atthe University of

British Columbia. A feminist activist who likes big earrings andbig hair, she has previously worked on sexual assault education ini-tiatives at UBC and was a founder and coordinator of Sexual AssaultAwareness Month at UBC. She is active in social justice theatre,and has tons of fun merging her love of the stage with her passionfor education and fighting oppression. In her spare time, Lauenjoys cooking, cuddling, and reading feminist perspectives onpop culture. She is so happy to join the team at EVA BC!

Our new ProgramManager, NilaSomaia, was bornand raised inKenya. Sheobtained herundergraduate andgraduate educationin England and theUnited States,

before immigrating to Canada in 1992.Having worked in thecounselling field for 15 years, 5 of them in Stopping TheViolence Counselling programs, Nila identifies violenceagainst women as a persistent theme in her work. She has foundthis to be true regardless of whether she has been engageddirectly in anti-violence programs or indirectly through herexperiences in other areas such as adoption reunion orthrough her administrative experiences in community-basedfamily programs.

Look for an online survey from EVA BC early in the new year aimed at finding out about what prevention activities yourprograms are engaging in and what practices are used by your programs to reach out to victims who are reluctant to report orengage services. Survey responses will be summarized and passed on to the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.

In anticipation of increased visitors to the EVA BC website as a result of the Be More Than a Bystander public awarenessinitiative, a whole new section called “If You Need Help” has been created on the EVA BC website to provide women withinformation about violence and abuse and where they can get help from EVA BC member programs throughout the province.You can visit these new pages at http://www.endingviolence.org/node/1115.

EVA BC has recently developed the Violence Prevention Legacy Fund as a way people can contribute to education and awarenessinitiatives aimed at breaking the silence on violence against women and girls. Donations can be made online or by mail. To findout more about this fund, go to http://www.endingviolence.org/node/1087.

November 20 – Transgender Day of RemembranceNovember 25 – International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against WomenNovember 25 – December 10—16 Days of Activism Against Gender ViolenceDecember 1 – World AIDS DayDecember 3 – International Day of Persons with DisabilitiesDecember 10 – Human Rights DayMarch 1-3, 2012 – EVA BC Annual Training Forum & Special General Meeting

Increasing Safety for Aboriginal Women: Key Themes and Resources. This tool is one of the outcomes of a seriesof focus groups and community discussions about Aboriginal women’s safety in Northwest BC in 2010 & 2011.

Step by Step: Tools for Developing a Coordinated Response to Violence Against Women. Developed toassist community coordination initiatives in fulfilling their goals to increase the safety of women and children impacted byviolence, this CCWS Resource Guide offers up to date information on how to build, maintain and enhance local coordinationinitiatives and includes many practical tips and tools.

Disclosing Information in Woman Abuse Cases: Guiding Principles for Community-Based Anti-ViolencePrograms Working with High Risk Case Management TeamsThis 11-page information paper offers guiding principles to help ensure that local information sharing practices in woman abusecases help maximize safety for women and children and are consistent with federal and provincial privacy laws.

The Safety of Immigrant, Refugee, and Non-Status Women Project, completed earlier this year, developed a number ofresource documents that include a 240-page Resource Guide, Lawyer’s Compendium, briefing notes and other resource documents.

!

Our community of anti-violenceworkers was shocked anddevastated to learn that our friendand colleague Bayush Hagos waskilled in September 2011 and thatone of her clients was charged withher murder.

Bayush was an African CommunityWorker with the MulticulturalOutreach Program at Vancouverand Lower MainlandMulticultural Family SupportServices for 19 years, and wellknown to us all at EVA BC andthroughout the anti-violence sector.She was famous for her huge heartand extending a helping hand toanyone she met, including, ofcourse, her clients: immigrantwomen who needed practical helpand emotional support. Her friendsand co-workers remember her as

someone who personified theword “support”. Many of usremember that walkinganywhere with Bayush tookmuch longer than it usuallywould, because she would stopand talk to everyone she met,both friends and strangers,dedicated to offering warmthand support to anyone whocrossed her path.

On October 18, 2011 a largegathering of family, friends andcolleagues came together at theBurnaby Lake Pavilion toremember Bayush and sharetheir stories of her. EVA BCwill be dedicating its upcomingWorker Safety Manual toBayush. She will be deeplymissed.

A bursary has been established at Langara College in memoryof Bayush. This bursary will assist a needy woman studententering either the Social Work Assistance course or the EarlyChildhood Education program.

Donations can be made as follows:Phone Langara College at 604.323.5515 and ask for theAdvancement Office; donations can be made over the phonewith a credit card.

Or send a cheque for the “Bayush Hagos Bursary” addressedto: Advancement Office, Langara College, 100 W 49thAvenue, Vancouver, BC V5Y 2Z6

Langara College will double the donation made and issue taxreceipts to donors. The college will invest all the money anduse the interest earned every year for the bursary.

Jennifer Woods

Stephanie Capyk

Brigit Atkinson

Vacant

Jan Seelinger

Aimee Thompson

Vacant

Sarah Bolton

Grainne Barthe

Bally Bassi, Co-Chair

Nancy Taylor

Lynnell Halikowski

(Contact for all programs) (Contact for STV Counselling Programs)

(Contact for CBVA and STV Outreach Programs)

Department of Justice Ministère de la JusticeCanada Canada

Are You an EVA BC Member?

EVA BC RESOURCES

Membership is available to provincially funded Community-Based Victim Services Programs, Stopping the Violence Counselling Programs, Stopping the Violence Outreach and Multicultural Outreach Programs, Sexual Assault Centres and other similar programs. Associate Memberships are also available. For more information, please visit our website at www.endingviolence.org/membership or call us at 604-633-2506 ext 10 or email evabc@endingviolence.org

We wish to thank the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General

for its ongoing funding support.

Thanks to the following for financial support towards EVA BC projects and initiatives.

For a list of all EVA BC resources, please visit our website: www.endingviolence.org< >

Building Partnerships to End Violence Against Women: A Practical Guide for Rural & Isolated Communities. Includes practical tips for building partnerships as well as a section of exercises and handouts that can be copied and used by community groups.

Freedom From Violence: Tools for Working With Trauma, Mental Health & Substance Use. In response to ongoing requests from frontline workers for materials on these topics, EVA BC has created this comprehensive toolkit.

End Violence For The Dignity of Every Women Educational & Awareness Resource CD-ROM Kit. Educational materials for anti-violence programs to use in their communities.

Men Speak Up: Ending Violence Together DVD and Presentation Guide. Men in high-profile leadership positions from across BC speak out about violence against women in this groundbreaking non-partisan film.

You Are Not Alone: Violence, Substance Use and Mental Health, A Peer Approach to Increasing Safety. A multimedia toolkit to generate discussions among women about safety.

Status of Women Condition féminineCanada Canada