Un-gendering Violence Event
a Great Success
***

On Oct 23, 2000 RESOLVE Alberta was given the opportunity to balance social perception with the reality of domestic violence by participating in a lively panel discussion on "Un-gendering Violence". The event was hosted by Prairieaction Foundation, in partnership with University of Calgary's Gender Institute and the Association of Women Lawyers.

Senator Sharon Carstairs moderated the discussion. Panelists included Leslie Tutty, Academic Research Co-ordinator for RESOLVE Alberta, and professor with the Faculty of Social Work, Robbie Babins-Wagner, Executive Director of the Calgary Counselling Centre, Detective Lynn Cunningham with the Domestic Conflict Unit, Calgary Police Service and Michael Rothery, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary. The panel members were posed four questions: Who commits violence? Are men and women equally violent? Is it only abuse when it fits our stereotype? Do we really believe in a zero tolerance policy for violence?

Leslie Tutty noted that, as a society, we seem to prefer black and white perspectives. As such, two myths are currently promoted about intimate partner violence. The first is that it is only men that are violent and women are always the victims. There is clearly evidence that women partners can be abusive to men, particularly when considering emotional abuse. There is little research on the nature of female violence, a gap that often leaves men hiding their victimization or feeling ashamed because males have been socialized to be strong. The second myth is that men and women are equally violent. The research evidence of this is based solely on that conducted using the Conflict Tactic Scales developed by Murray Straus. In numerous studies across North America, including Canada, women admit to committing as many violent acts as men do. However, other research shows that women are much more likely to admit to these problems than men are. Further the experience of front-line workers such as counsellors and police suggests that women outnumber men victims by about ten to one. In summary, Dr. Tutty suggests that we need to shift our thinking that only men are violent, but not by concluding that the genders are equally abusive.

Robbie Babins-Wagner works in an agency that currently offers services for women who have been victimized and for both men and women who behave aggressively toward partners. For the first time this year, the agency will also offer a group for men who have been abused, in response to concerns that this population has not been encouraged to come forward for help. Additionally, she supports the idea that we should not be complacent about anyone committing violence, and from that perspective, supports a zero tolerance policy.

Detective Lynn Cunningham works with a special unit within Calgary Police Services that takes the most serious domestic abuse cases. Lynn looked at the statistics for the police force in general, noting that about 80% of assaults in which police intervened were perpetrated by men. Within the special unit, however, men are the aggressor more than 90% of the time.

Michael Rothery referenced a recent (1999) Statistics Canada survey which confirms that children and women are at greatest risk of harm from violence in the family. Men are at least risk of such harm and are most often perpetrators of both child abuse and spousal abuse.

In summary, the panel suggested that while we should be more flexible with the boundaries of violence (so that we do not disregard victims of abuse such as men simply because they do not fit our stereotype), a large proportion of the serious domestic abuse directed at women is perpetrated by men.

An Evaluation of the
"Women Hurting Women" Workshops
***
by Leslie M. Tutty and Kendra Nixon, RESOLVE Alberta

The nature of gay and lesbian violence is similar to abuse between heterosexual couples. Most research suggests that 22-48% of lesbian relationships and 17-38% of gay male relationships involve domestic abuse, similar to the extent of violence in male-female couples. While numerous services and policies and procedures are available to address heterosexual intimate partner violence, most communities have no specialized approaches to address same-sex abuse. Lesbian and gay individuals may avoid mainstream helping agencies or may use the service without identifying themselves as gay or lesbian, thus disadvantaging both individuals and service providers. Most professionals have little training or understanding of abuse in lesbian and gay relationships.

The goal of this research was to evaluate a new training program for professionals entitled the "Women Hurting Women Workshop". The workshops were sponsored by the Women Hurting Women Subcommittee, an ad hoc committee of the Entry Points Committee which is a subcommittee of the Calgary Domestic Violence Committee. The workshops were also offered in association with Peer Support Services for Abused Women. The workshops (offered April 17th and May 15th) were one-day training sessions for service providers who are, or may be providing services to abused lesbian or bisexual women.

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