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n ew i dentifers for v ictims of a buse ian kerr canada research chair in ethics, law & technology university of ottawa. ann bartow. gender discrimination. flipped ‘im. flip it forward. shout outs !. nora currie. dina mashayekhi. ashley death. jennifer barrigar.
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new identifers for victims of abuse ian kerr canada research chair in ethics, law & technology university of ottawa
dina mashayekhi ashley death jennifer barrigar jason millar asiya hirji katie black
new identifers for victims of abuse ian kerr canada research chair in ethics, law & technology university of ottawa
my project • fact finding re niva [atip, etc.] • fact finding on Bill C-286 [leg review,atip, etc.] (subsuming niva within witness protection program) • academic research on aspects of identity • social construction of identities [goffman to butler] • victim//survivor identity [feminist & helping professions] • personal identity [parfit to schechtman] • critical evaluation of niva • academic analysis of promise/peril of niva • policy analysis of Bill C-286 • academic analysis of promise/peril Bill C-286
atip Qs information regarding / documents outlining: • any contracts, memoranda of agreement/understanding that women must sign to enter niva • specific criteria that women must meet to be eligible for niva • obligations of all parties pursuant to niva (ie., what women must do to maintain placement in the program; what services the government promises to provide to women enrolled in the program) • how niva enforces contracts, memoranda of agreement/understanding (ie., repercussions for noncompliance) • oversight of the program (ie., who has authority and who monitors program efficacy) • services provided for by niva • statistics associated with niva [including (i) how many people tried to access the program, (ii) how many were denied, (iii) how many people left niva, (iv) how many were terminated from niva, (v) how many have maintained new identities, (vi) feedback from participants]
wppa is known and understood program formalized, with mandate and structure some of niva client survey concerns addressed no funding cap diminished standard for admission to program (reasonable belief that life is in danger) no mandatory identity change (can used to relocate a person) potential for counselling potential for cross- jurisdictional moves ties participant to criminal regime referral mechanisms to program under more narrow under wppa than niva rcmp administration raises trust issues vague access criteria (belief on reasonable grounds that life is in danger ) current language not inclusive of children rcmp commissioner has discretion to refuse access for financial reasons possible criminal sanctions for program violations pros cons
academic literatures • social construction of identities [goffman to butler] • victim//survivor identity [feminist & helping professions] • personal identity [philosophers from parfit to schechtman]
academic literatures • social construction of identities [goffman to butler] • victim//survivor identity [feminist & helping professions] • personal identity [philosophers from parfit to schechtman]
‘victimization’ is political. power dictates who victimizes and who gets victimized, and power dictates what will be viewed as victimization. a person recognized, legitimated, as a victim is recognized as someone who has received a wrong, who has been treated unfairly and unjustly. . . . . despite its ‘negative social value’ and the ‘obligations’ of the victim role, its benefits include “the right to claim assistance, sympathy, temporary relief from other role responsibilities, legal recourse, and other similar advantages. martha burt & rhoda estep (1981) “who is a victim? definitional problems in sexual victimization”
‘victimization’ as a purposive tool of social construction by grassroots feminists
feminism lost its power to suggest interpretations of abuse to the … public almost as soon as the media seized on victimization of women and girls as a popular subject. the loss of political movement that saw abuse as primarily a gender issue became a gain for the public health and mental health professions. sharon lamb (1999) “constructing the victim: popular images and lasting labels”
the convincing victim: • is eternally suffering - depression; suicidal tendencies; anxiety; phobias; addiction; dissociative identity disorder; sexual dysfunction, etc. • is deviant • is passive • is helpless • is powerless • is dependent • is ashamed • lacks agency
a stigmatized individual is “reduced in our minds from a whole and usual person to a tainted, discounted one.” erving goffman (1963) stigma: notes on the management of spoiled identity
‘victimization’ began to lose its feminist instrumentality
in creating new definitions we always risk incorporating the rigidity of the victim is a practice I call victimism… [which] creates a framework for others to know her not as a person but as a victim, someone to whom violence was done. . . . . victimism is an objectification which establishes new standards for defining experience; those standards dismay any question of will, and deny that the woman even while enduring sexual violence is a living, growing, interactive person. kathleen barry (1979) female sexual slavery
there are many ways to victimize people. one way is to convince them that they are victims” karen hwang (1997) from utne reader
feminist research increasingly seeks to go beyond giving women voice and reporting on women’s experiences, to offer analyses and critiques that help make sense of women’s experiences as they are shaped and constrained by power relations in social contexts. nicola garvey (1999) “ ‘I wasn’t raped but…’ revisiting definitional problems in sexual victimization”
