What About Us

1
What About Us?

• Supporting Women whose Children Have Witnessed
  their Abuse

2
Overview

• Creating balance
• Mothers vs children?
• Activity
• What are the issues?
• Applying a feminist approach to cases with
  children
• Empowerment through consciousness raising
• Womens rights
• Childrens rights
• A protective environment
• The current situation
• Moving forward

3
BalanceMothers vs Children?

• What are the issues for each?
• Can balance be achieved and how?
• Does best interest of the child interfere with
  a mothers rights?
• How does a womens centered approach apply in
  cases with children?
• How does our current system address these
  issues?
• What might future directions look like?

4
Activity

• Identifying and Balancing the Issues

5
Case Study

• 33 year old Irene and her children (aged 7 and 4)
  have been living in an apartment shes been
  renting for 6 months. Working long hours, Irene
  is barely managing to cover all the familys
  expenses.
• Irene separated from her husband after his verbal
  and emotional abuse that began during her 1st
  pregnancy escalated to physical violence.
  Despite his abuse of their mother, the childrens
  father retains visitation rights and the children
  stay with him at the familys former home every
  other weekend.
• The children happily relish the nights in their
  own bedrooms. Their father lavishes them with
  gifts and allows them to select their activities
  together. The children have begun nagging Irene,
  pleading to move home with daddy. Irenes
  husband is also pressuring her during exchanges
  of the children. He is angry with her for
  breaking up the family and threatens to interfere
  with her employment if she does not come home.
  He has also begun to drive by her apartment on
  random evenings and has left threatening notes on
  her doorstep.
• Irene fears for her children when they are alone
  with their father. She wonders what he might do
  if his anger over the separation grows. She is
  contemplating the idea of moving home, where she
  can monitor her husbands mood and behaviour.

6
Feminism and ChildrenBeyond the False Dichotomy

• An incorporated approach.
• It is possible to be woman-centered and
  child-focused.
• You can not begin to respond to one, without
  supporting and understanding the other. Baker
  Dillon (2001), p3.

7
Mothers Rights

• Key Documents
• Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of
  Discrimination Against Women.
• Family Services Act.
• Child Victims of Abuse and Neglect Protocols.

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A Women has the Right to

• Life, Liberty and security of person.
• Freedom of movement and residence.
• Marry and found a family and to have equal rights
  in the event such a union is terminated.
• Retain occupation, ownership and control of joint
  property.
• Express her wishes and have influence on
  decisions with regard to the care of her
  child(ren).

9
Childrens Rights

• Key Documents
• UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Family Services Act.
• Child Victims of Abuse and Neglect Protocols.

10
Children have the Right to

• Have their best interests respected.
• Not be separated from their parents against their
  will.
• Maintain personal relations and contact with both
  parents.
• A protective environment.

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Video clip

• protective environment

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The Current Situation
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NB Child Protection What to Expect

• 60 of reports lead to an investigation.
• 85 of investigated cases result in the child
  remaining in her/his home.
• 15 of investigated cases result in children
  being placed in care.
• The goal for these 15 is to support the
  parent(s) in regaining custody of their
  child(ren).

14
Types of Services Child Protection Cases are
Referred to

• Community based services.
• Services provided in the home.

15
Other Services (Outside of Child Protection)

• Legal advice.
• Supervised visitation and safe exchange.
• Others. . .

16
Moving Forward

• Already In Motion
• Concurrent program for children who have
  witnessed abuse and their mothers.
• Outreach Workers.
• Provincial Partnerships in Action.

17
Models for Inspiration
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Veith House Halifax, NS

• Mission
• A neighborhood house whose challenge is to meet
  the needs of children, individuals and families.
  We work primarily with people living in poverty,
  with empowerment as an ever present goal.
• (http//www.veithhouse.ns.ca/about.htm)
• Principles of operation
• Respect, ethics, equity, co-operation, caring and
  affirmation.
• Just distribution of power, rights, wealth,
  privilege responsibility.
• Identification and reduction of barriers to
  accessibility.
• Acknowledge honour individual and collective
  diversity.
• Effect change and support growth.

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Services Available at Veith House

• Advocacy, counseling trustee services.
• Supervised access with subsidized fees for low
  income.
• In-home parenting program.
• Fully subsidized preschool.
• Parent tot drop in.
• Community internet access.
• Veith Street Gallery.

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AARDVARC- Child Witness Program at the North
Queensland Domestic Violence Resource Center

• Mission
• The AARDVARC program is a supportive program
  for children and young people and their parent or
  caregiver. It offers acknowledgement of
  experience of violence and an opportunity to talk
  and make sense of their experience within a safe
  and supportive environment. Aardvarc involves a
  shared commitment between children, their
  parent/caregiver and workers through work with
  individuals and groups.
• (http//www.nqdvrs.org.au/Aardvarc20for20Parents
  .htm)

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. . . AARDVARC

• Principles
• A response to past practice that has isolated
  parent and child, ignored the insight of the
  parent , promoted mother-blaming and pathologised
  those who have lived as victims of
  violence(Baker Dillon, 2001).
• Including gender-based analysis of domestic
  violence in work with children who have witnessed
  their mothers abuse results in effective
  solutions and avoids re-victimization

• A - Acknowledgement
• A - And
• R - Recognition of
• D - Domestic
• V - Violence
• A - And
• R - Real
• C - Change

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Family Group Conferencing-New Zealand

• Origins
• Based on traditions of Maori aboriginal people.
• Currently being applied in British Columbia and
  Alberta.
• Process
• Family, extended family or other informal support
  network brought together with case worker and any
  others with special information.
• Held anywhere child or young person and their
  support people feel comfortable.
• Case plan is determined by family.

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Some Theoretical Approaches

• Handouts on
• Strengths perspectives
• Emotion-focused therapy
• Solutionfocused therapy
• Narrative therapy
• Parent-child interaction theory

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Comments/Questions?

• Thank You!