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Together in Vancouver BC Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Vancouver for a Two-Day, Cross Turpel-Lafond Issue 2015-2 1404-510 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC V6B 1L8 Tel 604.633.2506 Fax 604.633.2507 www.endingviolence.org GETHE TO R! E B This year EVA BC is working C C Five keynote presenters will be N C with key cross sector partners E O among those present to share L L to host a joint collaborative O L their expertise and experiences I A training forum that is the first of V B with training forum participants O C I its kind in the history of British R that include front-line anti-violence T A S Columbia. On December 9-10, T workers, police, policy-makers E E S 2015, programs under the M and government partners: Sgt. O T O Ending Violence Association of D Liz Donegan of the Austin Police S & T L O A P U S X BC, BC Society of Transition E Department’s Sex Crimes Unit; Houses, and Police Victim well-known violence and trauma Services of BC, along with the expert Lori Haskell; Deepa Royal Canadian Mounted Mattoo, a lawyer with the South Police, BC Association of Chiefs Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario; of Police, Provincial Office December 9 & 10, 2015 Georgia Nemetz, psychologist of Domestic Violence, Ministry and expert on vicarious trauma; of Justice and Government Hyatt Regency Hotel and BC’s Representative for partners will gather together in Vancouver BC Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Vancouver for a two-day, cross Turpel-Lafond. Read on for a provincial, cross sector training BCCollaborates.ca sampling of what to expect forum. from them… continued page 3 Sgt. Liz Donegan Lori Haskell Deepa Mattoo Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond INSIDE THIS ISSUE ICAT: BC’s Collaborative Model ................................................................................p. 12 News from Around BC ................................................................................................p. 15 Training, Projects & Partnerships..............................................................................p. 17 EVA BC NEWSLETTER / FALL 2015 Ending Violence Association Message from the Executive Director of British Columbia (EVA BC) Welcome to everyone attending this year’s joint training forum, 1404-510 West Hastings Street Together! BC Collaborates to Stop Sexual & Domestic Violence. Vancouver, BC V6B 1L8 This training forum marks a first in BC history with its unparalleled Phone: 604-633-2506 cross-sector collaboration to address the epidemic of violence Fax: 604-633-2507 against women and children. We trust you will be inspired and Toll-free (members only): informed by the incredible keynotes and workshops offered. 1-877-633-2505 This edition of the newsletter features articles graciously [email protected] contributed by the five distinguished keynote speakers who will www.endingviolence.org be presenting at the training forum. Editor Sgt. Elizabeth Donegan of the Austin Police Department’s Sex Nancy Boyce Crimes Unit looks at an issue anti-violence workers know well – a lack of understanding about sexual assault that results in the Layout and Design blaming of victims. Well-known violence and trauma expert Britt Permien Lori Haskell shares insights into the impacts of trauma and the Contributors psychological harms of sexual and domestic violence. Deepa EVA BC and CCWS staff, Mattoo, Staff Lawyer with the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario, Nicki Breuer, Anne Davis, relates some of SALCO’s findings into the complexities and realities Elizabeth Donegan, Lori Haskell, of forced marriages. Dr. Georgia Nemetz, a registered clinical Jason James, Maureen MacLennan, psychologist and expert on vicarious trauma reminds us that taking Deepa Mattoo, Georgia Nemetz, and care of ourselves is not indulgent or selfish, it’s essential, as she Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond. offers commonsense advice on how to recognize and manage the impacts of the very difficult work we do. And BC’s Representative for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, inspires us with This newsletter is published two times per her message of collaboration and cooperation as keys to enhancing year and provided free of charge to EVA BC safety for women and children. We are thrilled and grateful that members. The views expressed by newsletter each and every one of these speakers is sharing their expertise contributors do not necessarily reflect those of with us this year. the EVA BC Board and/or staff. Submit your ideas, articles and photos for future newslet- I hope training forum participants will especially enjoy the incredible ters to [email protected]. opportunity to build relationships with colleagues from the many EVA BC core services are supported by the anti-violence programs and other sectors represented at this year’s Ministry of Justice and the Vancouver Coastal collaborative training forum. Again, welcome all! Health Authority. With respect, Tracy Porteous Charitable # 13926 5821 RR0001 PAGE 2 EVA BC NEWSLETTER / FALL 2015 TOGETHER! BC COLLABORATES TO STOP SEXUAL AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE continued from page 1 SHE WAS ASKING FOR IT are filled with anger and remorse. We Irish are famous for our wakes and celebration of life. By Elizabeth Donegan Growing up, it was normal to attend a wake and How many times have we heard a victim of sexual following it, a get-together with family and friends. assault was somehow responsible for being sexually My own father at his wake was remembered with assaulted? The victim did not act like a rape victim. laughter and tears. Each of my four sisters reacted She should have known better. What did she expect? very differently — one cried rather hysterically; one laughed in the middle of the wake; one sister initially It seems incredible that we ourselves would ever showed little reaction at all. Their responses did not think or say that a victim of sexual assault had some make their grief any less. If we could understand culpability in the assault—yet that occurs more that the reactions of victims to sexual assault are as often than not. In no other crime do we challenge varied as are the reactions to death, we would have the credibility and believability of a victim from the an easier time understanding and accepting their moment she discloses on throughout the judicial response to the assault. process. In some cases, as in the Roman Polanski rape, we continue blaming the victim decades later Leave your Baggage at the Door despite the judgment by the court. We often run into another common barrier - victim blaming. Looking for fault in the victim’s actions, Part of the issue surrounding our lack of understand- which would lead us to believe that she asked for it. ing of sexual assault goes back to institutionalized think- When a victim is sexually assaulted we immediately ing. We learned as young children from our parents begin looking at whether the assault and victim are about sexual assault; who are the victims and who credible. When that doesn’t discredit her, we then are the suspects that commit these crimes. As we switch to her behavior. She shouldn’t have been grew older we continued to hear a similar theme drinking. She should have known better than to go which was consistently reinforced by what was home with someone she just met. She should have reported in the media. We have a difficult time in our locked her door. We can overcome these biases by society coming to terms with sexual assault victims having a better understanding of the psychology of behaving outside our preconceived ideas about how sexual assault victimization and being sensitive to she/he should act. We need to understand that all our own bias, prejudice and myths. victims of crime act in a manner that is very individual to their personal experiences. Each of us has Perpetrator Accountability experienced traumatic events in our lives, these Traditionally the non-stranger rapist has been viewed events have molded us to react to certain incidents as less culpable for his actions (boys will be boys; he in a way that works for us. had too much to drink and didn’t communicate his intentions well), less dangerous than stranger rapist. Understanding Trauma The finding of recent studies indicate that non- To put it into perspective, we all have experienced stranger rapists are “as likely to be serial and multi- death in our lives. Grief is a very personal, individual faceted offenders as incarcerated rapists”.2 experience. Some of us might grieve outwardly — sharing our thoughts, our feelings, and our loss with The research clearly indicates the overwhelming anyone who might listen. Still, some might not show percentages of rapes are committed by non- any emotion, preferring to grieve in private; others strangers. Yet, we refuse to hold these perpetrators PAGE 3 EVA BC NEWSLETTER / FALL 2015 accountable. The current “Hollywood” version of trauma on the brain, body and self, have enormous rape is a myth, alive, well - and flourishing. We as a implications for the criminal justice system. society do not want to believe that those who are A trauma informed approach is, in fact, increasingly committing the majority of rapes are people we know becoming recognized as essential for working and trust. It hits too close to home. The actions of effectively with clients who have experienced sexual the perpetrator should be the focus of the investigation. violence and abuse in a variety of settings, including Perpetrators know better than anyone else the bias, the health care sector, mental health services and prejudice, and myths our society holds against increasingly, for police and legal responses. victims of sexual assault. They exploit our bias and we as a society are responsible to a certain degree The brain’s response to trauma is complex, and for allowing that to happen. human behavior in response to trauma, particularly sexual violence, can be subject not only to misunder- We can make a difference in our response to sexual standing but even stereotyping.
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