Programs & Services > Violence Against Women > If I'd Only Known
“If I’d Only Known” Project Helps Newcomers Avoid Violence and Abuse
October 9, 2009
Family Service Toronto, with funding support from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, is launching a unique project that uses the first-hand experiences and voices of newcomers who have been involved in situations of abuse, to educate new immigrants about their rights and responsibilities under Canadian law with regard to violence.
The project, entitled “If I’d Only Known: Newcomers speaking to newcomers about abuse in close personal relationships” is national in scope and will involve outreach to major population centres across Canada. Family Service Toronto, a community service agency with a long history of work with newcomer communities, will tap into its experience with the Tamil, Farsi, Afghani, South Asian and Somali communities to build the education materials.
“If I’d Only Known” will be developed with the help of members from each of these communities. It will capture the key learning experiences of women and seniors who have experienced abuse in Canada, as well as those of men who have perpetrated abuse. The materials will share the advice that each group wishes to provide to those who come after them. Their perspectives will be gathered through interviews and focus groups to create culturally appropriate translated materials that will reflect subtle nuances of abusive acts as they occur from one community to the next. The aim is to produce prevention-focused materials that can be heard, understood and acted upon.
Providing the “If I’d Only Known” materials to newcomer communities will assist the settlement process as newcomers will benefit from early exposure to critical information about accepted ways of managing relationships within the Canadian context. The information will also ensure that those who are marginalized within their community have a range of avenues to pursue to get access to critical and potentially life-saving information.
“Abuse and violence knows no cultural, spiritual, linguistic, age or economic boundaries,” says Dr. Lisa Manuel, Director of Family Violence Programs at Family Service Toronto. “It is an inappropriate use of power and often takes place in a context of social isolation. Newcomers to Canada can be vulnerable to abuse – both perpetrating it and experiencing it – because of a range of factors, including lack of knowledge of Canadian laws, their rights and responsibilities, and the unacceptability of specific and generic actions that are constructed as abuse.”
This is an 18-month project by Family Service Toronto funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
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