Self care – Beyond the hashtag

During the pandemic, the term ‘self care’ has been widely used on social media, with related hashtags and images in the millions. While the term has received increased attention in recent years, the concept of care of the self is not new and may date as far back as classical Greece, to Socratic thought. Self …

Purple

I met a friend onlineand she was done up all in purplefrom bespoke blouse to lipstick Why the palette girl November is family violence prevention month don't you know And what's the purple mean I guess something to do with bruises  But if there is no bruise? What's your point? What if you see nothing? …

How healthcare providers can support women coping with violence

This article looks at the role of healthcare providers in the provision of culturally safe, sensitive and compassionate support to patients who are living with family violence (FV) and/or intimate partner violence (IPV). This area is of interest and priority because physicians’ offices are key but underutilized loci for the potential screening and detection of …

Culturally appropriate and safe assistance through home visitation for survivors of violence: Practices, challenges, needs – Report, July 2020

This report is a qualitative exploration of practices, challenges and unmet needs in Home Visitation (HV)-based supports to diverse mothers living in situations of family violence in the Canadian province of Alberta. ​It is an instrumental output of a 2019-2023 collaborative multi-agency project. The report provides evidence to develop and pilot a home visitation protocol …

Cultural Safety

Introduction In Canada, Brian Sinclair's tragic death in 2008 has been a turning point in the conversation on racism, discrimination, racial/cultural profiling and how they impact access to and delivery of care. It’s been almost six years [in the fall of 2008] since Brian Sinclair wheeled himself into the emergency room at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences …

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Canada (with some notes on Alberta)

The emerging evidence is that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated gender based violence (GBV; including family violence FV, which is intrinsically gendered) and adversely impacted anti-violence efforts worldwide (ACWS (Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters), 2020; Hankivsky & Kapilashrami, 2020; Peterman et al., 2020; UN Women, 2020; World Health Organization, 2020). The pandemic has disrupted funding …

The Moment

A woman kneels, hands outstretched against the moment. The hands of the clock are slow, unhurried as a vulture's wings across a molten sky, tracing a shadow on the bared neck. The hands on her are sure, as they dismantle her, bit by bloody bit, down to her hands clutching her tattered map to refuge. …

Home Visitation as “Pretervention” of family violence

Background Historically, perinatal home visitation (HV) programs have been used to reduce risks for poor pregnancy outcomes, improve parenting skills and enhance infant development. The core content of most perinatal HV programs includes: (1) anticipatory guidance (2) curriculum-based tips for enhancement of parenting and/or child development (3) social support and practical assistance to mothers (4) …

Key steps in managing the client-case worker relationship – Tripat Kaur, Val Cudmore

PART A Informal Sharing Informal Sharing is a process that allows the client to talk freely and share their thoughts with greater confidence. This helps the client and counselor in the following ways: It provides an opportunity for the counsellor to know more about the client and their problems. All clients need to be listened …

Asylum

This is  for those who think that going to shelter is the complete and final answer for women facing violence, the perfect solution for women caught in the nowhere land between the violence in their homes and the uncertainty of shelter space.   Noise is a myth here, like dust and sweat. Silence – but …