By Joanne Farmer
Young People's Press
"I didn't tell anyone. I felt so isolated and alone," says Marguerite Chaput of her years of domestic abuse. She felt isolated in her situation, even though she lived in the heart of a city.
Chaput is now an outreach worker with Women's Outreach, affiliated with the Nipissing Transition House, in North Bay. The program which she developed aims to reach victims of abuse both in North Bay and the outlying areas.
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Photo by Richelle Forsey |
Women's Outreach has been in existence for eight years, which, Chaput points out, may seem like a long time but "is not a lot ... to make a difference, to reach these women." In that time, she estimates that over 600 women have been through her outreach program.
The main challenge is to even get these women in the door. "They (women living in rural areas) are the hardest people to reach. When you do reach them, what is available to them [resources] is not what we have here in North Bay," laments Chaput.
Donna Lunn, founder and Project Coordinator for the Community Abuse Program of Rural Ontario (CAPRO), conducted a study on domestic violence in rural areas with women at risk and those working in their communities to help them. This study identified the following challenges of rural living: lack of public transportation, isolation of the rural environment, few medical practitioners and social services, lack of information and services outside the urban areas, lower household incomes and fewer employment opportunities for women and young people.
CAPRO has been doing what it can to raise awareness about the problem of domestic abuse since its inception in 1995. It was initially sponsored by the Ontario Farm Women's Network, an organization of which Lunn is a past president. Now, that the sponsorship is over, Lunn says that CAPRO's "advisory board wants to see this move forward as a coalition."
CAPRO does not offer active counselling for abused women, but instead trains facilitators in areas all over the province, in its community development model. CAPRO encourages community involvement because they believe that the community people and agencies hold the wisdom and knowledge of their own community. The program is delivered in a manner that challenges and empowers community members to identify abuse and promote solutions.
Getting the information out there and letting women know that alternatives are open to them is not an easy task. Lunn's mission with CAPRO is to make a difference by raising awareness of the unique issues of domestic violence and abuse for rural families among: rural residents, agencies and organizations mandated to serve rural areas, (and) local and provincial governments. To promote collaborative, community-based partnerships for the purposes of prevention and effective intervention.
Outreach workers such as Chaput go to great lengths to listen to those closest to the situation. "I'm learning from women," says Chaput. "I'm listening to them to see how I can get the information there."
If she is unable to offer direct intervention, she will advise her clients on how to get it. "If a women called from one of those [rural] areas... and she wants help but finds our program isn't what she wants, I can be a link between that woman and other agencies," she explains.
During the initial promotion of Women's Outreach, Chaput went directly to the few resources in each community that could help. "I was able to reach them (women) through some of the churches." She explains that the church is often one of the few places that an abusive partner will let the abused go to alone. She has also left pamphlets in small community clinics and has appeared several times on 'Around Town' a local channel for residents of Eldee, Ontario to talk about her program. Even that has had limited success as not all communities have a channel of their own, or even have access to the channel from the next largest urban center. "Apart from that," she says, "there's not very many ways to reach them."
Chaput has been doing her best to make the program accessible to the women who need it. She relocated the office to what she feels is an ideal location, one of the local malls. She says it's "likely" the one place that everyone goes to, including abused women from outside the city who may not encounter information and assistance any other way. Still, she says that "there's more that can be done."
There are many factors which contribute to the lack of well developed services in rural areas. For example, there is the problem of the slower response time by authorities in outlying areas. Not all rural communities are served by the 911 number. "One of the big barriers is police," Chaput explains. "If they're called from a non-urban place, by the time they get there, it may have taken too long, or be too late."
Confidentiality is another issue and "very hard to keep in small areas outside the city," Chaput says. Outlying communities are typically small, where everyone knows everyone else's business. In fact, Chaput says that she's had women seeking help come to her from outside the areas of Northern Ontario her program serves, in order to ensure their confidentiality. However, there are many women who are reluctant to offer their personal lives up for local gossip and instead, refrain from seeking help.
Abused women in rural areas usually don't have access to a car for an escape, especially if they come from a one vehicle household. Their neighbors may also be too distant to call in a time of need. For women that are ready to take the steps to leave an abusive relationship, Chaput's Women's Outreach will pay the cost of transportation from home to help in the city.
But this is easier said than done. Cultural factors come into play as well. Relocating to the city is "very, very hard for women and children when they're used to rural living. For them, country living is healthier, better for the children," Chaput explains. "I think she (the victim) always thinks of her children - the city is too fast for her, the schools are different. She looks at what her children will have to adapt to."
The task which remains is enormous. Abused women must be able to learn about the services available to them, the community must be educated about their role in prevention, and the abusers themselves must also be presented with information about what it is they are doing and resources that are available to them.
But that is all the more reason for persevering and working toward the prevention and education of domestic abuse issues. Domestic abuse must be confronted precisely because hits so close to home. "It could happen to you, your sister, or your child," says Chaput.
Joanne Farmer is 23 years old.
