[originally printed in Education Wife Assault Newsletter, V. 9 # 1, June 1998]
The Metro Woman
Abuse Council was initiated in 1991 to develop a coordinated community response to woman abuse in Toronto. The community response to woman abuse has been fragmented by the serious lack of consistency, standards
and coordination
among all sectors. The community has therefore been unable to provide a clear and consistent message to victims, and most importantly to abusers, that woman abuse is wrong and will not be tolerated.
The Council
worked with the community to develop best practice guidelines for those working in health services and community agencies, and worked toward the development of formal policies and protocols in the criminal justice
system. By 1995 the Council had identified intervention programs for abusers as an area requiring work and policy development. These programs require program standards and accountability more than any other, given
that a poor program may put a woman's life in danger.
It was increasingly recognized that a coordinated response to woman abuse within the criminal justice system must include some kind of intervention program for
offenders. Even in the most effective criminal justice response, most offenders do not receive a jail sentence. More effective and ongoing mechanisms must be created to monitor the behaviour of offenders and contact
their partners. Equally, there continues to be a strong call from women survivors for re-education/rehabilitation programs so their abusive partners can learn to change their behaviour.
At a round table
discussion in 1995, participants unanimously agreed to form a working group to create clear standards and guidelines for intervention programs. These guidelines would make accountability to victims and the safety of
women and children priorities for intervention programs.
Through this discussion emerged the need to reach consensus on the purpose of programs for batterers, particularly those that are linked to the criminal
justice process. There was clear consensus that the primary goal of these programs is to provide safety for the victim, rather than focusing on 'therapy' or 'services' for abusers. So while these programs provide
re-education and learning for the offender, they also monitor and hold him accountable for his behaviour. Once these programs are accepted as a way to promote the safety of victims, issues such as the confidentiality
for the offender become clear-- there is no confidentiality when the safety of the victim is a risk. These programs also need to make a firm commitment to continue to reach out to and contact the
partners, to offer information and referrals.
Over the next year and a half, the Round table committee continued to develop a framework for intervention programs for batterers. Building on work that was done
through three ministries of the provincial government, these guidelines went much further, describing philosophical principles, content, format, etc. Some of the key philosophical principles entrenched in the
Accountability Guidelines include:
.All interventions programs must regard the safety and protection of potential victims as the highest priority. Towards this end, all intervention programs must ensure that
women partners are made aware of advocacy services through community/education outreach strategy.
- The victim never causes the violence. A man's violence is a matter of personal choice.
- Intervention strategies with men who abuse should focus on the abusive behaviour, not on other family or relationship issues.
- In working with men who abuse, the physical safety and psychological, emotional well being of potential victims must take priority over the abuser's right to confidentiality.
- Intervention strategies for men who abuse should undertake ongoing evaluation of program effectiveness, given that ineffective intervention may do more harm than good and jeopardize the safety of women.
- Intervention programs must be an active participants within a community-wide response, and must not operate independently.
It was agreed that the curriculum of any intervention program with abusers must address four major issues. By identifying these issues, abusers start to understand and learn about their choice to use violence in the
past.
1. What are the Entitlements of any intimate relationship - what makes an individual feel that he is entitled to use violence/abusive behaviour?
2. What is the Rationale
that offenders use to justify their abusive behaviour?
3. What is it that makes an offender feel that he has an inherent right as a man to use force and violence?
4. What makes an individual feel that violence and force are legitimate behaviours to use within the context of a marriage/relationship?
Programs identify the philosophies/ biases and learning that
make abusers feel they have the inherent right to use violence and abusive behaviour, and that such behaviours are legitimate.
The creation of two specialized domestic violence courts in Toronto provided the
opportunity to have batterer programs that strictly adhere to the standards and guidelines.
After much negotiation, the Council agreed to administer a coordinated batterer's program. Agencies interested in providing
batterer's programs could apply to be on a roster of agencies that would receive referrals of men from the Domestic Violence Courts. A group with representatives from women's advocacy services and prevention
programs interviewed prospective programs and identified ten agencies that met the criteria of the accountability standards and guidelines to participate on the roster. Using the standards as a guideline, the
agencies provide culturally based programs, while maintaining a common criteria and accountability process. This group of agencies is actively involved in ongoing collaborative monitoring, review and tracking of
offenders. Extensive work is done with other sectors, such as probation, to ensure an effective and safe response to women who are being abused.
This system has been in place now for more than a year. In that time,
over 250 offenders have attended programs at the ten agencies. There seem to be successes in the system, as well as areas for continued refinement and change. Perhaps the most important move is our continued work
to ensure that the purpose and goal of the program is to provide safety for women. We are becoming clearer that while these programs can teach men that there will be serious consequences for their behaviour, but it
takes a lifetime to change values.
We need to seriously reflect on how to continue to monitor behaviour and demonstrate the community will, indeed, hold men accountable for their abusive behaviour. But we must
also continue to find ways to reach out to women victims in order to provide support and resources to them such that they can have a real choice in creating a violence free life for themselves and their children.
