How can the justice system help women who are victims of violence? The goal of the Justice Options for Women who are Victims of Violence project is to ensure that justice options do not revictimize women who are victims of violence. To provide opportunities for women and their advocates to identify needs and issues in relation to justice, focus groups and interviews with women and victim advocates were held across the Island. The information gathered, along with information gathered from a Reference Group of survivors of woman abuse, victim advocates and those working in the justice system and other related systems, will be used to create a Framework for Improving Justice Options for Women Who Are Victims of Violence. Focus Groups and Interviews Focus groups were held and interviews were conducted with women across the Island. There were three focus questions: What makes it hard for women to tell someone about abuse they have experienced? What do women need from the justice system? How could the justice system better meet the needs of women? The following is summary of the focus groups and interviews. 1   What makes it hard for women to tell someone about abuse they have experienced? She may be embarrassed or feel that she should `know better' She may fear judgement by service provider or the community She may fear that her safety will be jeopardized if she tries to leave She may be afraid that `everyone will find out' She may be aware of the lack of legal aid She may not have the financial or emotional means to support herself or her family while she is waiting for the legal processes to be completed She may be afraid that service providers won't believe her She may have a strong commitment to her marriage vows and feel that it is her duty to stick with the marriage She may be afraid of losing material possessions (house, car, furniture, savings, etc.) She may not know that there is help available She may think she can do it without help She may be confused about how leaving will affect the children She may be in too much emotional turmoil and have too much to deal with to be able to take that step She may be experiencing family pressure to make things work She may have encountered an unhelpful response in the past She may be afraid that she will lose her children if she leaves She may be in the honeymoon period and think that things will change She may not have a car or other transportation with which to leave She may not have the energy to call person after person until she finds someone who believes her and can/will help her She may not be able to leave her community to go to Anderson House if she has a job she can't leave or children she doesn't want to take out of school She may believe him when he says that he will hurt other family members like her father or mother She may think that the system won't work, that the abuser won't be charged, that he won't have to go to jail and that the system doesn't take abuse seriously She may not want to hurt other family members by revealing the abuse She may feel guilty and think the abuse is her fault She may think that because she doesn't have any bruises or broken bones that no-one will care She may be afraid that she will have no-one to take care of her if the abuser is her care giver She may have no emotional support from family or friends She may be afraid that the system can't protect her from the subtle harassment She may not know that she is in an abusive relationship She may feel that the children need their father She may not have a way to support her children She may be very isolated and have no-one to talk to She may have been taught to believe that she deserves to be abused She may feel that the abuse is a result of a mental illness and that it is her wifely duty to stay by her abuser She may be so controlled by her abuser that she doesn't have the strength or power to tell 2   What do women need from the justice system? Women identified 11 main needs: access to help to stop the abuse financial security prevention of violence their children's safety safety for themselves to maintain family relationships respect support in making changes/breaking the cycle of abuse information/education the abuser to be held accountable the ability to have some control over the process 1. access to help to stop the abuse Women need access to timely and respectful processes and resources which will support them to break the cycle of abuse. They need to be able to trust that these processes and resources keep them and their children safe from further abuse. The women who participated in the focus groups were more likely to access help if: she knew that she would be respected by the people and processes she looked to for help it was affordable is was in her community or transportation was available accessing the service/process didn't require that she give up other supports, her job, etc. it was in a language she spoke and understood well it was simple to understand (plain language, few and uncomplicated steps to follow) accessing the assistance didn't put her in further danger of being abused "I used all my savings to pay for the lawyers and I'm at the point where I have to declare bankruptcy and nothing is settled yet." "I need to be able to keep him out of my house - the police says that's ok if he comes in because he's my husband." "Anderson House told me that I was at risk of losing my kids and my house because I couldn't take my oldest kids with me so I had to go back to him until all the legal pieces fell into place (which took more than a month of further abuse) - the legal process needs to be changed to keep women safe, not send them back." "There needs to be a humanisation of the justice system - we're not all lawyers, we're not all emotion-free, business-like people." "There needs to be an understanding between family and criminal law - they impact so much on each other but are treated as if they are separate by the courts." "There needs to be tighter legal enforcement of trespassing, peace bonds, restraining orders, etc. - we need real action not a piece of paper." 2. financial security For the women who participated in the focus groups, financial security means: being able to support their children without drastically changing the lifestyle that they are accustomed to that the abuser takes his share of the responsibility for supporting the children enough money to ensure that the children have suitable child care, if the mother has to work a dwelling that is hers and the children's with no control exercised over it by her partner to keep her share of the assets that she has worked to build transportation "My Emergency Protection Order says I'm in control of house but they wouldn't do anything when he cut off the utilities, which were in his name." "Social services helped financially, made me sign a paper I would pay it back when I got a settlement." "I used RRSP to pay lawyer's retainer fee, now I'm being charged with fraud because I didn't report it; I have to use what little assets I have and its ruining my life." "The legal aid system is terrible - when you're in an abusive situation and you're working there's no legal aid and there's nothing anybody can do - and he's allowed to do what he wants." "Some women don't have a car and its hard to leave if you need a drive somewhere and there's no one you can ask." 3. prevention of violence In the experience of the women who participated in the focus groups, a lot of frustration came from the emphasis that the system seems to place on reaction as opposed to prevention. By prevention, women mean: service providers taking responsibility and intervening early/asking questions when they suspect abuse quick responses to violent crisis making sure that men get treatment to change behaviour service providers taking action to help before a crime is committed "Doctors don't usually say anything if there are just bruises - only if there are blood and broken bones." "When I called the police they asked `is he hitting you?' - I said no but I'm afraid he will hurt us and they said `well, we can't come unless he hurts you - call us when he does that'." "My child's teacher said [to me after we left the home] - `I noticed a difference in your child' - I would have appreciated a call - for her to take some responsibility/initiative." "Even my social worker knows he's crazy but won't do anything to protect my kids." 4. their children's safety When we asked women what their needs were one of the areas that was discussed most was the need to keep their children safe and support in doing that. When they used the word, "safe", the women meant many different things: safe from all abuse by the abusive partner - not just the forms that are criminal offenses safe from harming themselves, emotionally or physically safe from growing up to have difficulties coping safe from drastic changes in lifestyle safe from confusion about what's happening between their parents "Children need to be heard - my kids wrote letters to the judge and the family court counselor got rid of them. During the Home Study the counselor spent about 10 minutes with the kids and 15 minutes at our home." "Its confusing for mothers how to educate kids about what father is doing (harassment, financial abuse) without putting him down and without putting kids in the middle." "Without the help of the Family Resource Team (Child and Family), I wouldn't have had the strength to get through." "I asked the guidance counsellors to keep an eye on my kids and they were awesome, they built a bond with the kids." "There isn't enough protection with regard to custody protection of children when women leave the home - social services says its up to the mother to protect the children but give no support to do that - my social worker said to me when I asked her to take the kids from him "I can take the children from YOU because you haven't protected them by letting him have [legal] access to them." " [The court says that] I have to send my child with a man that abuses him, makes threats against my life in front of him. If you're un-cooperative [by not allowing access] then you look bad in front of the judge." "There needs to be "child protection" especially where there's emotional abuse - he knows he can get away with that." 5. safety for themselves When talking about their own safety as a need, the women participating in the focus groups indicated that, in addition to requiring assistance in staying safe from criminal behaviour, they need: protection from subtle harassment a safe place to live processes which do not give the abuser further opportunity to control, abuse her and intimidate her into giving up her rights to be able to count on enforcement of decisions made the victim's safety and preventing further abuse to be the main priorities in sentencing safety from threats of violence against other family members "The system doesn't offer protection from the subtle harassment - police can only do something when its too late." "Mediation was difficult and the mediator should have stopped him lots of times but in the long run it was a blessing to me - I had gotten enough counseling that I was able to focus on the safety of the kids - he thought he was controlling the process and I let him think that to get what was important for me." "It's easy to give up rights in mediation [because] no-one is there to protect you." "911 put me on hold when I called to say that I was being assaulted." "If I had to do it again, I wouldn't. I was told promises by Crown he would get federal time and I believed it at the time, but they're not in control of what happens - with a 20 year history of abuse he was sentenced to 17 months, and spent only 3 months in jail after sentence." "Probation needs to be followed through with stay away orders, anger management - [the probation officer] said she was too busy to follow through with anger management." 6. to maintain family relationships Some women mentioned that one of the reasons they hesitated in telling someone about the abuse was their need to maintain family relationships. One woman was being abused by her brother-in-law and didn't want to hurt or lose the support of his wife, her sister. 7. respect Women told stories of the responses that they received from the justice system, from social services, from community organizations and from others in positions to help. The responses that helped were from compassionate people who understood the dynamics of abuse and who listened to them and believed them. The responses that did not help, not surprisingly, were from the service providers who did not listen, did not believe them and who told the woman "it's your fault" or "it's not as big a deal as you are making it out to be". In terms of respect, women want: to be listened to to be believed not to be judged or told it's her fault some indication in the sentencing that the court takes her abuse seriously compassion to feel valued as a person/client confidentiality "If the community thinks he's great no one believes you and you lose support." "The police treated me like I didn't know what I was talking about - like I didn't exist. We were standing in my kitchen and one officer said to the other `Do you think this warrants an EPO?' I responded and said `yes' and he said `I wasn't talking to you'." "The police officer was trying to make me understand how a man feels - I said do you know how I feel?" "Its hard to tell anyone; by the time a woman makes the big decision and it goes to court it's all over the papers; [as well as] announced over the [police] scanner." "I probably wouldn't have stayed so long in my abusive relationship if I had encountered a better response." "The abuser should be treated as if he was a stranger on the street when it comes to sentencing - it is minimized by the courts - why does it matter how long you were together or if you invited him to come have tea - they need to get rid of that attitude of `if you let him come and have tea its your fault, make a decision - do you want him in your life or not - if you keep getting back with him we can't do anything for you'." "The officer said to me that "it sounds like this is turning into a pissing match between you and your husband" and told me to go to a lawyer." 8. support in making changes/breaking the cycle of abuse The support that women identified that would most help them break the cycle of abuse is: taking action before the violence occurs, when indicators are there and a woman asks for help recognizing the difficulties of joint custody when there is violence and making safe orders providing counselling/information to women keep the abuser out of the victim's home help her to protect her children recognize and understand the cycle so you can better help her provide support for the children to understand what's happening ensure that the process is quick ensure response times to crisis is quick enforce decisions, don't leave it up to the woman empower her to make her own choices don't ask women to make the decision to charge her spouse provide 24 hour services (crisis may not occur between 8 and 4 on a weekday) someone to take care of you if the abuser was your caregiver don't overwhelm the woman by complicated processes or by making her repeat her story over and over believe her be open to talking about abuse and let clients know that be compassionate The women also identified support from family and having someone you trust to tell about the abuse is extremely important. "How will you have the energy to call person after person until you find someone who believes you and can/will help you?" "I came from another country and was very isolated - everybody is related to my ex and I didn't dare say anything." "The RCMP was wonderful - [the officer] said it was a little beyond what she was supposed to do but she talked to him anyway and warned him not to harass me." "The police did want to help me but were limited in what they could do." "The Outreach workers, Victims services and Anderson House were all great." "My doctor's office has a sign that says you can talk to him/her about abuse." 9. information/education Information and education was a need identified by women, not just for themselves, but for others, as well. For the women themselves, they need information about: what constitutes an abusive/healthy relationship where to go for help how to protect themselves financially (from the start) in a relationship ideas for preventing stranger abuse parenting education for families in crisis that its not her fault clear information about options what options are available if orders made, etc. don't work For the abuser: understanding about the impact of his behaviour on his victims Police, judges, social workers, lawyers need education about: how to properly use the present legislation the cycle and dynamics of abuse how to work with an abuser how to be compassionate, less judgmental how to support a woman who has been abused Family and general public need education about: the cycle and dynamics of abuse "My father was verbally abusive so I didn't know that I was in an abusive relationship because I didn't know what abuse was." "I thought that my abuse wasn't that bad because it wasn't physical." "Mental illness is not an excuse for abuse - I thought I was doing my wifely duty in staying by him." "They need to have parenting education specifically for families in crisis. The CLIA parenting education was more geared to two healthy individuals." "I was abused for 23 years but didn't know about alternatives until 8 years ago - then a whole new world opened up." "I didn't know there was help out there." "The police, lawyers, judges interpret the law differently if its your husband and not a stranger that's harassing you or coming into your home or abusing you." "We need the system to understand how to work with an abuser. He can be on his best behaviour for that one appointment or court date." 10. the abuser to be held accountable Participants in the focus groups felt that sentences need to send the message that violence against women is a serious crime. 11. the ability to have some control over the process The focus group participants indicated that they need to be have ways to hold service providers accountable if they are not treated with respect or if they are given inaccurate information. 3   How could the justice system better meet the needs of women? We asked women to think about ways that the justice system could help to meet the needs of women in or leaving abusive relationships. This is what they said: Prevention service providers, including teachers, doctors, social workers and others, can take responsibility and action if they notice something is going on provide women with ideas for preventing stranger abuse sit with women with disabilities and tell them what to do, who to tell, how to defend themselves offer self-defense courses secure buildings to prevent people from getting in, but also easy to get out yourself if you are being abused by someone you know legalize pepper spray women need to be taught how to protect themselves financially in a relationship from the start - give them information about whose name the house/assets should be in, how to protect themselves re: the family business show video "Crown Prince", it opened my eyes get information to women about healthy relationships at community centres, grocery stores change social attitude that says "wife crazy" / "man okay" Service Provision listen to children support victims with counseling because crisis cannot be counted on to occur only during business hours, there needs to be 24 hour services provide child protection for emotional abuse ensure that legal aid is given by lawyers with lots of legal experience and training in the area of woman abuse, who treats women with respect (as if they're paying) don't limit the hours for legal aid provide emergency legal help ensure that there is someone on call to help assess the risk in crisis Social Services and courts can stop putting the responsibility for protecting children on mothers and help them by doing what they can to remove children from the presence of abusers police, social workers, judges, lawyers and other service providers need more training in the area of family violence and woman abuse to ensure that they are compassionate, understanding and non-judgmental police, social workers, judges, lawyers and other service providers need more training in how to work with an abuser provide a person in the police station (not a police officer) who can listen and explain each option and can help women with peace bonds, giving statements and other options, etc. That person can help women to get into the "legal" state of mind and out of the "emotional" state of mind to ensure that others listen to her and respect what she's saying. social services needs to stop asking the children, no matter what their age, who they want to live with when there's been violence between the parents provide clear information about options at one central point so that women don't have to go looking legal aid for family law ensure that there is enough time spent with the children during Home Studies child psychologists in each county make less referrals - don't pass the buck support mothers to help kids get through confusion find some way to help the abuser understand what he is doing to his family have parenting education specifically for families in crisis provide quick responses to violent crisis, in urban AND rural communities one year for a home study is too long - needs to be speeded up need to find other safe places for families to stay when they have older boys (Anderson House won't let them stay) provide a way to get an Victim Assistance Order without a lawyer train police about EPOs and how to follow protocol and ensure that they know that they should not ask the wife if she wants to file charges suicide prevention and counselling for children provide women with a way to hold service providers accountable if they act inappropriately make it ok for a woman to change her statement because she is probably in a high emotional state when she first gives her statement police need to be trained to ask the right questions when women give a statement take the abuser out of the house if s/he is family or a housemate teach people to DO SOMETHING when they are told about abuse teach family and other supporters how to support a women who has been abused Formal Justice System Process make criminal issues known in family court - make the link to family violence speed up the family law system so the family doesn't hang in the balance have judge specifically for family law with training in family violence provide help for women who have to represent themselves in family court so that they can do some of the work themselves instead of the lawyer (to save money or legal aid hours) lawyers/judges need to believe victims more and not ask for affidavits from other people who have seen what's gone on - people don't want to get involved protect women from further victimization by not allowing abusers to cross-examine their spouses ensure that women are not revictimized by cross-examination techniques used by the abuser's lawyer listen to children improve Summerside court so you don't have to sit face to face with your abuser give longer sentences so people who abuse get the message that it's wrong don't put abusers on house arrest, put them in jail - say it's a serious crime take all of the abusers rights away when there is abuse, then when they get help, give them back one at a time don't allow visitation with abusers until we're sure that children will be safe give more recognition of victim pain in sentencing sentencing should provide some support in stopping abuse - it should be mandatory that the abusers get help sentences should reflect the horrendous nature of the crime make protection of women a priority when sentencing sentence men who abuse women harsher than property crimes Follow-up tighter legal enforcement of trespassing, peace bonds, restraining orders, etc. need real action not a piece of paper once a settlement or a judgement has been made, provide women with information about what that means and what options are then available if things aren't working enforce decisions, don't leave it up to the woman do a psychiatric exam for serious offenders before he leaves Sleepy Hollow and give the information to the court ©2001, Justice Options for Women who are Victims of Violence Project