Sister’s Empowerment Talking Circle
You can download the poster here.
For more information about BWSS Aboriginal Women’s Program, please visit program’s page.
Wildflower Women of Turtle Island Drum Group
Voices from the Front Line
Facilitating the BWSS Drop in Group
by Yvonne Prochaska
I have completed the great opportunity of facilitating the drop-in support group for ten weeks here at BWSS. This has been my first experience facilitating a support group and although it has been quite brief, I expect that I will look back on it over time to digest and assess the learning that it has provided me as I embark on a path of wanting to aid in the healing of others and myself.
Facilitating this group has been both rewarding and challenging. I have enjoyed experiencing other women and their stories, as well as how they are able to identify common experiences among one another and provide support when they feel they are able. I have found it reassuring that many of the women who have come to the drop in group have been open to discuss some painful experiences, and have been understanding, respectful of and patient with others. I have found comfort through women taking the courage to ask me about my personal experiences. I have felt validated by the attention I have been given, and the amount of appreciation. I have been shown for my thoughts and words. It has been great for me to see women coming back after their first session; that they have given me the chance to get to know them a little bit better.
The challenges come from the unpredictability of the group. You never know what issues women will bring or how many women will come to group. Flexibility on the part of the instructor is extremely important, as is the ability to observe and listen to the group with open curiosity; share ideas on how to discuss the topic(s) constructively to provide the women with support, understanding and validation of their feelings and experiences; as well as knowledge of resources that will help the women regain balance in their lives.
Overall, I have been surprised at the ease with which conversation flows in the group, and how it benefits not only the women participating in the group but myself as well. This experience has taught me a lot about myself and has created an opportunity for me to learn about some of the areas in which I would like to grow both personally and as an effective facilitator.
Help End Violence Against Girls and Women – Vancouver, Downtown Eastside
Help End Violence Against Girls and Women
Vancouver, Downtown Eastside
Battered Women’s Support Services is set to launch our Women’s Safety and Outreach Program for the first week of December 2012. The main purpose of this program is to provide a woman centered and coordinated community based response to assist girl and women survivors of sexual assault, dating violence, woman assault and stalking in Vancouver, Downtown Eastside.
With an emphasis on outreach and education awareness, Women’s Safety and Outreach will operate seven days a week from 5pm-1am, providing mobile crisis intervention to girl and women survivors of assault and or sexual violence. This response will include emotional support, information, transportation and accompaniment to hospital, as well as, support with housing.
Battered Women’s Support Services will host an Information Session for interested volunteers on November 7th at 6pm and will also provide in depth intensive training, starting on November 17 -18 and 24 – 25 from 9 am to 5 pm. With other training dates to be determined.
All women interested in volunteering for this critical and new initiative are warmly welcomed to attend.
For information and/or a registration package contact Amrit by email at amrit@bwss.org or call 604-652-1010
Recognizing, Understanding and Addressing Economic Abuse
Recognizing, Understanding and Addressing Economic Abuse
By Sara Yasan,
Manager, Training and Strategic Interventions
A complex combination of social, psychological, cultural, familial and economic factors contribute to a woman’s decision to remain in, leave and/or return to an abusive/violent relationship. Beside fear of losing their children, women who live with violence and abuse, frequently cite income, employment and financial stability as the strongest, most immediate deterrents to leaving abusive situations.
Impacted by the legacy of debt and imposed bankruptcies, even after leaving an abusive relationship, many women struggle to eat, find a safe place to live, achieve academic goals, support their children and rebuild their lives.
To understand the dynamics of financial abuse and the experiences of women survivors, we ought to recognize that financial abuse takes many forms. In fact, financial abuse is a common tactic of power and control in abusive relationships, which enables an abusive partner to control women by preventing or restricting her access to money, employment or other financial resources.
Abusive partners are motivated by the need for control and willing to use force, coercion or violence. Financial or economic abuse occurs when an abusive partner attempts to take total or partial control of woman’s financial resources, including money, property, an inheritance or employment income as well as prevent her from having access to, or making decisions for her own financial resources.
BWSS Economic Empowerment Strategies for Women: Recognizing and Addressing the Effects of Financial Abuse initiative explores and addresses the impacts of financial abuse on the lives of women.
Our objective through this initiative is to equip women survivors of violence, advocates, other frontline workers, policy analysts and other systems, institutions and government entities with strong analysis, practical resources, and information grounded in the lived experiences of women; through gaining these knowledge and skills these civil servants are better able to enhance women’s ability to engage in all levels of society; and, they are more capable of assisting women who are living with violence and abuse in achieving financial safety.
In order to ground ourselves in the experiences of women, through the month of April 2011, women who access our services were invited to take part in focus groups. Women were invited to share their stories and struggles as they experienced, and continue to experience, the impact of financial abuse.
The first session of the focus group series were held on April 7th, 2011. Nearly 40% of the women who participated in the group were either Indigenous or Immigrant women. Each woman passionately shared her story in the group, some for the very first time. Women described the many challenges they had faced, and continue to face, as the result of living through financial abuse. They shared the impact of financial dependency on their abusive partners, who were using financial abuse as a tactic of power and control. This economic dependency, however, is reinforced by societal and systemic gender discriminations that limits or denies women the opportunities to have access to and participate in the labour market and earn equal wages as male counterparts.
Women’s narratives highlighted that while financial abuse might not be as obvious or observable as other types of abuse, it profoundly impacts the safety and well being of women. Whether manifested through lack of access to some of the most basic life necessities like food and clothing and safe shelter, or marked by the systemic denial of access to financial resources, information and education, economic and financial abuse have a serious and lasting impact on women.
BWSS’ Economic Empowerment Strategies for Women: Recognizing and addressing the effects of financial abuse is holding two more focus groups in the month of April.
Read more about What is Economic Abuse?
BWSS’ Economic Empowerment Strategies for Women is funded by:
Founding Sponsors:
Building Community Leaders to End Violence Against Women; a Leadership Program for Women – Vancouver
Battered Women’s Support Services announces a strategic leadership program for all women interested in specialized training that will empower their roles in ending violence against women.
In its mission to end violence against women, Battered Women’s Support Services is offering the training program at no charge to attendees and invites all interested women to reserve their spot early as space is limited.
Please download the following information leaflet to learn more about this exciting opportunity:
Economic Empowerment Strategies
This curriculum is designed to support women assessing and redressing the impact of economic abuse.
Resources for Men
Social Enterprise
