Understanding Violence and Resistance in Achieving Justice

1. 2018 WDVCAS Conference Achieving Justice and Positive Change The Insatiable Desire for Dignity and Justice Allan Wade, Ph.D. August 2, 2018. Sydney, Australia allanwade@shaw.ca www.responsebasedpractice.com www.tell-it.info

2. Violence is the most urgent problem of our times. Best single predictor of diagnosis of “mental illness” . . . • 70+ % of people diagnosed with serious “mental illness” report significant violence and trauma histories. • Violence in childhood along with other adversities is the best predictor of diagnosis of “mental illness”. • Homelessness, poverty. • Eating disorders, dangerous drug use, “self-harm” . . . health problems (e.g., TB, diabetes) • Prostitution, ”porn”, “human trafficking”. • Criminal activity, convictions, incarceration. (90% of prison populations) • 70 to 90 % of child protection cases, depending on the jurisdiction, involve violence.

3. One form of violence enables and predicts others. • Colonial violence + racism + physical and sexualized abuse of children • Domestic violence + child abuse + rape of parent + child sexualized abuse • Sexualized assault + homelessness + robbery + rape + physical assault • War (invasion) + rape (everyone) + deliberate starvation + physical assault • Transphobia + harassment + assault + social exclusion (hatred)

4. Canada, like Australia, is an actively colonial nation. 8 months after “the apology” to First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples in Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper lied about genocide and other forms of colonial violence. Stephen Harper denies colonialism Reuters: David Lundgren. Pittsburgh. September 25, 2009 "We're so self-effacing as Canadians that we sometimes forget the assets we do have that other people see. We are one of the most stable regimes in history. . . . ” "We also have no history of colonialism. So we have all of the things that many people admire about the great powers but none of the things that threaten or bother them," he said. When asked about the deaths and disappearance of 1181 Indigenous girls and women in Canada . . . Prime Minister Harper replied, ”It isn’t really on our radar, to be honest.”

5. ULURU STATEMENT FROM THE HEART  Excerpt: “Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future. In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard.”

6. Response-Based Contextual Analysis Wade, Bonnah, Coates, Richardson (2014) Context, life-world Responses to social responses Social setting, situation Social interaction Dignity Accurate description Social network, institutional responses Adversity, offender actions Victim responses, resistance

7. Resistance is ever-present. Where there is violence, there is resistance. Alongside each history of violence, there runs a parallel history of prudent and determined resistance. Both perpetrators and victims tend to conceal resistance, but for very different reasons: Perpetrators, to conceal the violence. Victims, to avoid retaliation and more extreme violence. Resistance may be open and direct or subtle and disguised, depending on the dangers and opportunities present in the situation, over time. “When the grand lord passes . . . the wise peasant bows deeply and silently farts.”

8. Karin (15) Carolina: Can I ask in those situations when you were scared and felt like something was wrong, did you feel like you could do something then? Karin: No, that was the thing. I was so little and had so many feelings. Sometimes I could say to daddy, please dad please be quiet, don’t be bothered by what mummy says. I played along with him for a while and played along with him and thought this will help and pretended that mummy was the one who was sick. So I said that if you could only be quiet don’t be bothered by what she is saying you know she is wrong (pause) so be quiet and go outside and be angry.

9. Lars T: Do you remember him hitting Mummy? L: Definitely! T: Did that happen a lot? L: Yes. It was always in the evening. T: Where would you be? L: [Drawing] This is the living room and this is my bedroom. My bed is here, and they’d be fighting right here! They didn’t think about the fact that I’d wake up. T: You never went to your sister’s rooms? L: No, I couldn’t, they were on the second floor. They would have heard me from the living room. I’d hear them and go and say, “Mummy, someone has thrown eggs at the window”.

10. Lars cont’d T: So you interrupted them? L: Yes. Other times I said I had a bad dream. That was the best trick to make them stop. Mummy would come into my room and sleep in my bed. I liked that. T: And where would your stepdad be? L: He’d stay outside. T: So you helped solve the problem. L: Yes. T: That was very clever of you. L: Thanks! T: I think you’ll become an inventor. L: Yes, that’s what I want to be.

11. Maria (DVSM Participant) When he knew I was pregnant he beat me to a pulp and I miscarried twice. Publicly he would be saying to friends that he wanted to have kids. When I suspected I was pregnant again I hid it from him. I produced the pregnancy test with him and my mum in the same room together. I knew that if the pregnancy was public that he would have to go along with it and this would keep my daughter safe. Mum took a photo of us with the pregnancy test. It was public. I had been able to manage his violence towards me, not accept it, but manage it. So for the nine months I was pregnant the physical violence stopped.

12. The “Situational Logic” of Resistance • A six year old girl rubs rum on the rim of her father’s glass of coke. • A 40 year old woman wets her bed some nights, when anxious or fearful. • A boy “summons” his older brother at night, to come into the room and abuse him.

13. Violence is social . . . in that there are at least two people involved, a perpetrator and a victim. It follows that complete and accurate descriptions will include the actions of both people, in context.

14. First account of sexualized assault He followed her down the sidewalk. He sped up to catch her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her to the ground. He dragged her toward the bushes. He overpowered her and dragged her into the bushes. He held a rock over her head and threatened to kill her if she screamed. He called her degrading names. He forced his mouth onto her face. He tried to undo her belt. He grabbed at her pant legs to pull them off. He overpowered her and vaginally raped her.

15. Second account of sexualized assault He followed her down the sidewalk. She sped up. He sped up to catch her. She moved to the side. He grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her to the ground. She rolled on the ground to get away. He dragged her toward the bushes. She grabbed the roots of a tree so he couldn’t drag her into the bushes. He overpowered her and dragged her into the bushes. She started to scream. He held a rock over her head and threatened to kill her if she screamed. She stopped screaming. He called her degrading names. She said, “You don’t want to do this. You don’t want to hurt me.”He forced his mouth onto her face. She averted her face. He tried to undo her belt. She stuck out her stomach so that he could not undo her belt. He grabbed at her pant legs to pull them off. She crossed her ankles so that he could not pull off her pants. He overpowered her and vaginally raped her. She went to limp to avoid injury and went elsewhere in her mind.

16. Strategies of Violence and Tactics of Resistance Offenders anticipate and work to suppress victim resistance. • If the offender tries to isolate the victim . . . • If the offender tries to humiliate the victim . . . • If the offender tries to conceal the violence . . . • If the offender tries to blame the victim . . . Etc.

17. Resistance is a central part of the fact pattern in cases of violence. . . . not a reframe . . . not only a “strength” . . . not only a an expression of “resilience” . . . not an effort to be positive The victim’s resistance reveals the deliberate nature of the violence. To conceal resistance is to conceal violence.

18. Resistance is ever-present. At the same time, it is widely denied and ignored. Instead, the tradition in psychology, psychiatry, and the academy is to blame victims of violence - women and Indigenous people in particular. Although all people respond to, and resist violence, they are usually seen as passive, weak, lacking assertiveness, having no boundaries, making bad decisions, choosing abusive partners . . . and so on. These ideas are rooted in colonialism – white male supremacy – and are so common, they appear normal and reasonable.

20. Walker, L. The Cycle Theory of Violence The batterer, spurred on by her apparent passive acceptance of his abusive behaviour, does not try to control himself. (Walker, 1979, p. 57) During the first stage, minor verbal abuse, the woman tries to calm the abuser and often changes her lifestyle to avoid angering the man. This usually sets a precedent of submissiveness by the women building the gateway to future abuse. The second stage consists of an “uncontrollable discharge of tensions” that have been built up during phase one. Ciraco, 2001, p. 169)

21. Methods for obtaining accounts of resistance from victims. Understand context and the social-material situation. Ask about social responses: Does anyone else know about this? What did they say, do? Track interaction. Ask for responses: When he started yelling, how did you respond? What was the first thing that alarmed you? How did you respond at that moment? How did you “freeze”: What did you do with your eyes? How were you holding your body? What was going through your mind? Then what happened? Ask about the physical setting. (Improves recall, makes sense of responses.) Reflect back: “So you were defending yourself every way you could . . . and protecting your kids . . . Thank you for telling me this.

22. What changes? passive, affected ------------------→ active, responding object position ------------------→ subject position I am incapable ------------------→ I am competent I have no boundaries ------------------→ They ignored my boundaries I need skills ------------------→ I responded skillfully I’m hypervigilant ------------------→ I have good radar I’m depressed ------------------→ I’m sad at being oppressed I am responsible ------------------→ the offender is responsible I failed ------------------→ I did what I could I let it happen ------------------→ I couldn’t make it stop I went along with it ------------------→ I opposed it I choose abusive guys ------------------→ I choose decent guys I re-enacted my trauma ------------------→ I re-enacted my resistance I’m sick, abnormal ------------------→ I’m normal, healthy I’m odd, pathological ------------------→ I’m understandable, sensible I am the problem ------------------→ violence is the problem an inner problem ------------------→ a social problem self-doubt, blame ------------------→ self-respect

23. Social Responses How do friends and family – social networks – respond? How do institutional actors – social workers, crown, police, psychologists, governments, psychiatrists – respond? The quality of social responses is probably the single best predictor of the level of victims distress and the extent of victim cooperation with authorities.

24. Victims’ Responses to Social Responses Victims respond physically (epigenetically, hormonally), emotionally, mentally, socially, spiritually – to positive and negative social responses Victims who receive POSITIVE social responses: - tend to recover more quickly and fully - are more likely to work with authorities - are more likely to report violence in future Victims who receive NEGATIVE social responses: - less likely to cooperate with authorities - less likely to disclose violence again - more likely to receive diagnosis of mental disorder

25. Social Responses and to Marginalized Groups Already marginalized and disadvantaged people are more likely to receive negative social responses: • LGBTQ • Aboriginal • Refugees and immigrants • Persons with disabilities • Women and children • Poor • Geographically or socially isolated

26. Language & Violence

27. Violence and Language: “All prescriptions about what to do imply descriptions about what is [already] the case”. (Terry Eagleton, 2003, p. 87) Accurate descriptions are essential to effective social responses.

28. Unlike babies, some descriptions are quite ugly: “abusive relationships” “sex with a minor” “unwanted intercourse” “comfort women”

29. Violence is Unilateral • Violence consists of actions by one person against the will and well being of another • Mutual Acts vs. Unilateral Acts • Hand-shaking vs hand-shaking • Boxing • Kissing • Mutual acts imply and entail consent, co-action, co-agency, joint activity • “If you hit someone on the head with a frying pan, you don’t call it cooking.” (Anonymous Canadian genius)

30. Unilateral Language and Property Crimes • Car theft is not “auto sharing” • Bank robbery is not a “financial transaction” Similarly . . . • Wife-assault is not a “dispute” or “argument” or “abusive relationship” • Child rape is not “sex with a child” or “child prostitution”

31. Unilateral Mutual • kiss • abusive relationships • sex, intercourse • fight, conflict, argument • personality conflict • war, conflict, historical relationship problem • sex tourist, sex with minors • forced his mouth on hers • wife-assault, beating • forced vaginal penetration • beating, attack, assault • workplace bullying • invasion, genocide • international child rape

32. Domestic Violence The partners’ characteristics hold them together. . . . As abused partners adapt and become more compliant . . . the partners’ characteristics make them increasingly dependent on one another. After prolonged abuse they develop complementary characteristics: aggressive/passive, demanding/compliant, blaming/accepting guilt. (Anonymous Family Violence Project, 2008)

33. EPO: Emergency Protection Order Interview C = Court/Judge A= Applicant/Victim A: About two years ago he threw me onto the floor and started punching my head into the floor three times, to the point where there was blood all over the place. And then my friend said, “The cops are coming. You’d better get out of here”, you know. And he just took off. C: Okay. So there was an incident of violence between you two years ago. Any other instances of that nature? A: Not of that nature, just slapping, hits to the head, like, you know, just . . . verbal abuse.

34. Mutualizing: EPO C: Okay. And – and right from the start he’s been aggressive and sexually abusive? A: No. He was okay until August. Then one night we started to kiss, then I wasn’t -- I didn’t want to. Then he didn’t listen, then (too quiet to hear). C: Okay. Was that reported to police? A: No. C: No. Now, was that – that was the — was that then the first time that you two had – had relations? Had sex? A: That was the first time I’ve ever had sex.

35. From Clear to Obscure Active: Bob hit Sue. Simple passive: Sue was hit by Bob. Agentless passive: Sue was hit. Nominalization: An assault took place. Mutualizing: There was a domestic dispute.

36. Consent and Sexualized Violence Against Children Canada, U.S., Australia, England and Wales Children 15 or younger cannot give consent to sex (Exceptions: 14 & 15, 12 & 13) • Children do not understand the meaning or consequences of sex • Do not have the social or physical power to stop the violence or to pursue just redress against the offender • Are often disbelieved and do not know who to trust • Cannot consent to sex in any meaningful sense. Therefore, children cannot be said to be engaged in sex. Adults cannot be said to be engaged in sex with children. Such an event is literally impossible. This view is required by your own consent law.

37. Criminal Code of Canada: Sections on sexualized violation of children “151 Sexual Interference - Every person who, for a sexual purpose, touches, directly or indirectly . . . .” “152 Invitation to Sexual Touching - Every person who, for a sexual purpose, invites, counsels or incites a person under the age of sixteen years to touch, directly or indirectly . . . . “

38. Australian Law Reform Commission: “procuring or grooming a child for ‘unlawful sexual activity’; and abducting a child with the intention of engaging in unlawful sexual activity”. (p. 1136) Australia Institute of Family Studies states: “According to criminal law in Australia, the age of consent refers to the age a person is considered to be capable of legally giving informed consent to sexual acts with another person. When an adult engages in sexual behaviour with someone below the age of consent, they are committing a criminal offence (child sexual abuse).”

39. Washington State U.S.A. Rape of a child in the second degree. (1) A person is guilty of rape of a child in the second degree when the person has sexual intercourse with another who is at least twelve years old but less than fourteen years old and not married to the perpetrator and the perpetrator is at least thirty-six months older than the victim.

40. New Zealand Several sections of the New Zealand Crimes Act (1961) deal with sexualized violence against minors. Section 131B is titled, “Meeting a young person following sexual grooming”. “132 Sexual conduct with child under 12” • Every one who has sexual connection with a child is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years. (2) Every one who attempts to have sexual connection with a child is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.

41. Scenario 2 He rapes me at home I go home as late as I can I try to never be alone at home I try to always bring a friend I work as many night shifts as I can Hoping he’ll be asleep when I get home When all else fails, I get drunk, hoping I’ll pass out This is how I attempt to stop it Do you really question my resistance? The judge decided I consented. Nobody asks to be raped Stand with us for dignity and non-violence

43. A beautiful social response.

44. Thank you so much for the privilege of being here with you. Happy trails and best of luck in your important work!!