Perceptions of Safety and Violence Experienced by Aboriginal Women & Girls: Men's National Webinar

Perceptions of Safety and Issues of Violence Experienced by Aboriginal Women & Girls Men’s National Webinar September 10, 2015

Overview of Presentation • Introduction/ Project PEACE (Prevention, Education, Action, Change, Evaluation) • National Surveys: Aboriginal Boys & Men • National Focus Groups: Aboriginal Boys & Men • Conclusion

Project PEACE (Prevention, Education, Action, Change, Evaluation) Project PEACE aim is solely to promote safety, violence prevention and solution based approaches for Aboriginal women and girls through engagement processes. This unique three (3) year project has been conceived with the goal of creating safety nets for Aboriginal women and girls to enable their success in life across all platforms. The Project PEACE toolkits aims to support Aboriginal women and girls in achieving their personal and professional life goals and ambitions by empowering service providers, and Aboriginal men and women.

Experiences of Violence • Aboriginal women are 8 times more likely to be killed than non-Aboriginal women. • Rates of spousal assault are more than 3 times higher than non-Aboriginal women. (Spouse is not necessarily Aboriginal). • More severe and potentially life-threatening forms of spousal violence (54% versus 37% of non-Aboriginal women).

Total Surveys: five hundred and thirty-nine(n=539) respondents, (523) English respondents, and sixteen (16) French respondents. Seventy-nine (79) people identified as “Other” on Q2 and were disqualified from completing the survey(survey intended only to gather the viewpoint of Aboriginal peoples). Of the remaining four hundred and sixty (460) respondents, four-hundred and one (401) effectively completed the survey, while fifty-nine (59) did not. This summary takes into account four-hundred and one (n=401) completed qualifying survey results, which constitute the great majority of attempted surveys.

National Surveys: Aboriginal Men & Boys (cont’d)Four (4) options for respondents to indicate their Aboriginal identity: First Nations (Status/non-Status), Métis, Inuit and Other. “Other” category( non-Aboriginal)

National Surveys: Aboriginal Men & Boys (cont’d)

Men’s Analysis

Once a respondent indicated that they identified as a man, or did not identify with male, female or transgender identities, they were directed to a lesser amount of questions that focused on their perceptions on safety and violence for Aboriginal women. There were seventy-five (77) male respondents, representing 19% of overall respondents, with one (1) respondent who did not say, representing 0.3% of overall respondents. Their roles in addressing violence were also queried along with their thoughts regarding how to make communities and neighborhoods safer for Aboriginal women.

The majority of male respondents was 18-30 (23) - female respondents were mostly 31-44, with zero (0) male respondents being under the age of 18. Age categories for male respondents are as follows:

As in the female residency category, the majority of male respondents resided in an urban area (33). The second most response for this category was on-reserve (24), which again corresponds with female respondents. Zero (0) male respondents indicated living in an Inuit community or Métis settlement. The breakdown of male respondent residencies is as follows:

When asked about how long they have lived in their community or neighbourhood, the majority of men indicated years (45), while the second most amounts indicated all my life (28). These responses indicate a substantial amount of experience living in their communities and therefore increase the reliability of perceptions of safety and violence of Aboriginal women.

Regarding how safe communities and neighbourhoods are during the week (including nights) for Aboriginal women, most men felt the areas are somewhat safe (40), with the second most response being quite safe (27) and the least amount of men responding that the areas were not safe at all (11). These percentages are somewhat aligned with the responses provided by female responses (See Q4, Women’s Analysis) regarding feelings of general safety in their communities, and therefore suggest the perception of safety in neighbourhoods is similar for both genders.

When asked about how safe their community/neighbourhood is for Aboriginal women during the weekend (including nights), the majority of male respondents indicated somewhat safe (38). One third felt the community was quite safe (23) and approximately one-quarter (17) felt their neighborhoods were not safe at all during the weekend. The responses seemed to be similar regarding the perception of safety regardless of the time of the week. On the other hand, women felt safer during the day than they do at night (See Q6 and Q7, Women’s Analysis).

Aboriginal Men & boys • NOTE: Q27 and Q28 allowed respondents to choose more than one answer, so these percentages reflect the most common responses/actions and do not indicate the one action that a male respondent would take. Rather, these responses indicate what male respondents feel they would be the most likely to do/feel is the most accessible or appropriate response to addressing overall violence against Aboriginal women as well as individual violent events. • With respect to the roles that Aboriginal men play in reducing violence against Aboriginal women, most of the male respondents felt they had an active role in this endeavor, whether through acting as a role model (42) or openly stating they are against violence against Aboriginal women (37). Zero (0) men indicated none of the above. Only a small minority felt they were unsure of what to do to reduce violence against Aboriginal women (9).

Aboriginal Men & boys

Regarding what they would do if they encountered a woman involved in a violent situation, again the majority of male respondents felt they played an active role in addressing the situation. Most male respondents would call the police if they were able to (46) and/or try to resolve the situation themselves (34). Zero (0) respondents indicated “none of the above”. Only one (1) respondent would walk away; ten respondents would do “other”, including “talk, give options”, “record if possible” and “ensure that the woman is removed from the violent situation”.

The overwhelming majority of men agreed that violence is a learned behaviour (63), with only two (2) respondents disagreeing with this statement.

Regarding the power of physical abuse as a tool that men use to assert control over Aboriginal women, almost half of the male respondents agree (36), while twenty-two (23) men strongly agree. These responses suggest that there are systemic issues related to violence against Aboriginal women, with the recognition of this issue to be prevalent in Aboriginal communities amongst male populations.

Question 31 provided the opportunity to respond to multiple answers regarding what men feared the most when it came to violence against Aboriginal women. Unlike female responses, male responses seemed to be almost equal for all the violent events that could happen to Aboriginal women, with physical assault by a partner (50), sexual assault (50) and murder (48)ranking amongst the highest response counts. Interestingly, these responses suggest that Aboriginal men respondents fear murder at a higher rate than Aboriginal women (See Q13, Women’s Analysis

Thematic Analysis Both the women’s and men’s surveys included open ended questions (W=Q18 & Q19; M=Q32) relating to the perceptions around what causes family violence as well as women’s abilities to escape violence. The responses were synthesized into nine (9) common themes that emerged from all questions. Although not conclusive, the following themes are defined below:“Q18: What do you believe are the reasons why women cannot escape violence?” “Q19: What do you think are the factors that contribute to family violence?” “Q32: What do you think are factors that contribute to family violence?”

Thematic AnalysisMen’s Question 32: “What do you think are the factors that contribute to family violence? Please describe.”NOTE: most respondents included more than one response (as this was an open ended question) and therefore each theme within a response was identified and coded into this analysis. • Male respondents identified the same themes as female respondents when queried about the contributing factors for family violence experienced by Aboriginal women. Some of the individual responses to the thematic organization include: • Lack of Supports & Barriers • Unemployment • Poverty • Marginalization • Major socio-economic inequalities • Again, the male respondents echoed female respondents in that the vast majority of responses indicated that poverty is the leading cause of family violence in the lives of Aboriginal women. Forced poverty, intergenerational poverty, low income, no money and poverty in general consistently presented as a factor of violence and violent situations.

NATIONAL SURVEY MAJOR THEMES ABORIGINAL MEN & BOYS State-imposed Violence & Federal Policies • This theme relates to issues such as police brutality, a justice system that prejudices Aboriginal women and peoples, the 60’s Scoop, Indian Residential Schools, and the Indian Act that discriminates against Aboriginal women. Intergenerational & Other Traumas, PTSD • This theme relates to intergenerational trauma mostly resulting from Indian Residential Schools, but also numerous other types of abuse, foster care and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Lack of Supports & Barriers (Social, Financial, Familial) • This theme relates to a) lack of social, financial and familial support, and b) barriers that prevent Aboriginal women from avoiding and/or escaping violence. Oppressive Structures • This theme relates to oppressive structures such as racism, misogyny, sexism and heteronormativity. Skills, Education & Awareness • This theme relates to skills such as parenting, financial and marketable skills. Education refers to lack of formal education as well as knowledge about laws and resources. Awareness relates to a lack of understanding of how to escape violent situations, and what supports and resources are available to assist Aboriginal women and families.

Self-Perception & Empowerment This theme relates to issues such as low self-esteem, negative self-thought, fear and the importance of empowering Aboriginal women in order to avoid violence. Violence This theme relates to historical and currents experiences with violence that create learned systems of behaviour and normalization of violence. Culture This theme relates to the lack of culture, language, spirituality and traditional roles in Aboriginal communities. Health This theme relates to mental and physical illnesses and barriers that aide in perpetuating violence against women, for instance a physical reliability on an abusive partner.

Health • Stress • Alcohol and drugs • Mental problems • Anger problems • The overwhelming majority indicated that alcohol and drugs are leading factors in family violence against Aboriginal women. These responses relate to both men and women.

Skills Education & Awareness • It all starts from learning or seeing it as a child • Lack of education • History • A cycle in families • Many respondents indicated that violence is a learned behaviour and it is often viewed as normal, and therefore education and awareness is necessary to combat family violence experienced by Aboriginal women.

Focus Groups • Total: 18 focus groups (Winnipeg, MB; Selkirk, MB; Vancouver, B.C., Squamish, B.C.; Whitehorse, Yukon, Carcross, Yukon; Halifax, N.S.; Shubenacadie, N.S.; Montreal, Q.C.) • Focus groups were carried out in urban and rural settings. The age group of the participants ranged in ages 18 to 55 years and older. • Focus groups ran from 1.5 to 2.5 hours long

Focus Groups (cont’d) • Important to note that participants felt the need to discuss historical violence that still continues today before they discussed what was needed for the Toolkits. • Many participants wanted additional or new resources and services to protect and stop the violence against Aboriginal women and girls.

Focus Groups (cont’d) • Many of the same issues that were discussed in the surveys, also arose in the focus group discussions. • Residential schools through institutionalized method of punishing children has encouraged the normalization of violence. • Many focus group participants identified drugs and alcohol abuse as one of the major causes of violent behavior in Aboriginal communities

Focus Groups WEST REGION’S TOOLKIT RECOMMENATIONS • Include a picture of a sweat lodge • Include an image of an eagle feather, because this has a lot of meaning in Aboriginal culture. • Include a resource page where people can go for spiritual healing or teachings – ie. sweat loge ceremonies • Include prevention information about gangs • Include traditional teachings 1. Seven Grandfather Teachings 2. Medicine Wheel

Focus Groups (cont’d) WEST • Role models for young males – like Big Brother Program • Role models for young females • Spiritual guidance knowledgeable and respected Elders • Cultural teachings that includes walking on the Red Road, sobriety • Awareness programs of what lies ahead, as often domestic abuse victims do not have these tools

Focus Groups (cont’d) WEST • Individuals who are administering the toolkits need to be trained, in order to have a better outcome. They need to have the proper training and cultural sensitivity, in order to reach our people in the right way. • Involving the youth, in perhaps a National Indigenous convention week, to introduce the toolkits well in advance, i.e. in 2 years.

Focus Groups (cont’d) South Region’s Toolkit Recommendations • Include sports, because its going to involve not only our men but also our boys. • Recommend to combine men and women’s groups, in order to gather more ideas. • The most difficult aspect may be talking to community members, however these are the ones that have the most to say. • Utilization of apps, internet sites that includes sites that have videos explaining what their program is designed to do, how to empower people and to get healthy. • Phone lines for people to call in when they are feeling a certain way. Also, offices are needed for individuals to go to if they are in certain cities and require assistance.

Focus Groups: Aboriginal Men & Boys East Region’s Toolkit Recommendations • Toolkits have mostly focused on women, and rarely on a men’s perspective. Important to include the male perspective. • Lack of resources for abused men because men have a more difficult time opening up to someone with their personal issues.

Focus Groups: Aboriginal Men & Boys North Region’s Toolkit Recommendations • No input from this area from the men’s focus group

MerciChi-MiigwetchNia:wenHiy HiyThank you Gail Gallagher, Manager Violence Prevention & Safety ggallagher@nwac.ca (613) 722-3033 ext: 225

Perceptions of Safety and Violence Experienced by Aboriginal Women & Girls: Men's National Webinar