Every year in Canada, 100,000 woman and children seek shelter from domestic violence, says a recent report by the YWCA. Have you, or do you know someone who has, been affected by domestic violence? Click on the feedback icon below to share your story, or to comment on this important issue.
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The past four decades have brought unprecedented change for Canadian women, as we've made strides toward pay equity and against violence; spoken out through feminism and for better representation in politics; and fought breast cancer and championed better child care and aboriginal rights. Here, we present a Homemakers scrapbook featuring some of the women we've interviewed over the past 40 years, a snapshot of where we stand today and a look at where we have to go.
Violence against women: Then and now
1976
"If a man beats up another man and the police are called, they will lay a charge. If, however, a husband beats up his wife, they turn their backs and leave it up to the woman to lay the charge herself. When she is living with the man that is difficult, even impossible."
-- Lynn King, family lawyer in Toronto, May 1976
2006
"We've achieved a lot: It's against the law to physically abuse your wife; we have specialized family violence courts in many jurisdictions; we have more than 350 transition houses and shelters; and we've started to talk about violence more frequently and openly. What we still need to work on: better access to services for women who aren't in urban communities; when they need help, they have to take their kids away from local schools and leave the support of relatives and friends behind.
"We need to do a better job of listening to survivors of violence and of educating young women -- and men -- about dating violence. And we need to understand just how complex this issue is, when someone who tells you he loves you also abuses you."
-- Rina Arseneault, associate director of Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research at the University of New Brunswick
Today's stats & status
• According to a 2005 study by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, seven per cent of Canadian women have been abused by their spouses in the last five years.
• An abused woman is hit an average of 30 times before she calls police, says the Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick.
• Every year 100,000 Canadian women and children seek shelter from domestic violence, according to a YWCA Canada report released in June 2006.
• The YWCA's annual Week Without Violence Campaign, which works at the local community level, will run nationally from Oct. 15 to 21. Go to www.weekwithoutviolence.ca for more details.
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Have your say
Click the microphone icon to submit your feedback.
The past four decades have brought unprecedented change for Canadian women, as we've made strides toward pay equity and against violence; spoken out through feminism and for better representation in politics; and fought breast cancer and championed better child care and aboriginal rights. Here, we present a Homemakers scrapbook featuring some of the women we've interviewed over the past 40 years, a snapshot of where we stand today and a look at where we have to go.
Violence against women: Then and now
1976
"If a man beats up another man and the police are called, they will lay a charge. If, however, a husband beats up his wife, they turn their backs and leave it up to the woman to lay the charge herself. When she is living with the man that is difficult, even impossible."
-- Lynn King, family lawyer in Toronto, May 1976
2006
"We've achieved a lot: It's against the law to physically abuse your wife; we have specialized family violence courts in many jurisdictions; we have more than 350 transition houses and shelters; and we've started to talk about violence more frequently and openly. What we still need to work on: better access to services for women who aren't in urban communities; when they need help, they have to take their kids away from local schools and leave the support of relatives and friends behind.
"We need to do a better job of listening to survivors of violence and of educating young women -- and men -- about dating violence. And we need to understand just how complex this issue is, when someone who tells you he loves you also abuses you."
-- Rina Arseneault, associate director of Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research at the University of New Brunswick
Today's stats & status
• According to a 2005 study by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, seven per cent of Canadian women have been abused by their spouses in the last five years.
• An abused woman is hit an average of 30 times before she calls police, says the Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick.
• Every year 100,000 Canadian women and children seek shelter from domestic violence, according to a YWCA Canada report released in June 2006.
• The YWCA's annual Week Without Violence Campaign, which works at the local community level, will run nationally from Oct. 15 to 21. Go to www.weekwithoutviolence.ca for more details.
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