Behind closed doors ...continued

The Chatham-Kent Women’s Centre in Chatham, Ontario, which has been providing service and refuge to women in abusive situations for over thirty years, is representative of the five hundred shelters available to women in many cities and towns throughout Canada. The Centre offers a 24 hour crisis/help line as well as a 27-bed emergency shelter for women and their children. Other services provided by the Centre include counseling, either at the Centre or in out-lying communities; help with transitions out of abusive situations; support groups; and public awareness work, including school-based programs aimed at teaching students about healthy relationships.
One of the goals of the Chatham-Kent Women’s Centre is to educate people about the different kinds of abuse, and to let people know that there is help for anyone in an abusive situation.

Classic power struggles
So, what is abuse? What would make a woman, and often her children, leave home and take refuge in a shelter – sometimes even in another community – to find safety? It is a complex and sensitive issue affecting all levels of society and education. Abuse can take a variety of forms, including physical, psychological, sexual, financial and social. Most people think of physical violence: slapping, pushing, throwing things, or other displays of force or anger. Other forms of abuse, however, can be just as damaging and are more difficult to identify as abuse: control of time, activities, or clothing; limiting or forbidding contact with family or friends; following or harassing; destroying property; taking control of all decisions; threatening injury to the abused person or to himself if the abused leaves.
The common denominators are power and control. This is what the Women’s Centre staff want the public to know. Tonya Verburg, the Residential Manager of the Women’s Centre in Chatham, says that even the simple act of putting a sign on their building has had an impact. “It makes a building public; it’s no longer a secret of the community,” she says. “It opens the issue and gives people confidence to access our services.”

Moving forward
In recent years, there has been an increase in women reporting abuse to police and seeking help; Verburg says these statistics may not show a rise in occurrence of abuse, but that “abuse is not the shameful issue we have made it to be. It’s not her fault,” she stresses. “Other things, like job loss, alcoholism, financial issues . . . are just contributing factors.”
There is no “typical” situation of abuse, since the dynamics and experiences of abuse are as diverse as the The Chatham-Kent Women’s Centre in Chatham, Ontario, which has been providing service and refuge to women in abusive situations for over thirty years, is representative of the five hundred shelters available to women in many cities and towns throughout Canada. The Centre offers a 24 hour crisis/help line as well as a 27-bed emergency shelter for women and their children. Other services provided by the Centre include counseling, either at the Centre or in out-lying communities; help with transitions out of abusive situations; support groups; and public awareness work, including school-based programs aimed at teaching students about healthy relationships.
One of the goals of the Chatham-Kent Women’s Centre is to educate people about the different kinds of abuse, and to let people know that there is help for anyone in an abusive situation.

Classic power struggles
So, what is abuse? What would make a woman, and often her children, leave home and take refuge in a shelter – sometimes even in another community – to find safety? It is a complex and sensitive issue affecting all levels of society and education. Abuse can take a variety of forms, including physical, psychological, sexual, financial and social. Most people think of physical violence: slapping, pushing, throwing things, or other displays of force or anger. Other forms of abuse, however, can be just as damaging and are more difficult to identify as abuse: control of time, activities, or clothing; limiting or forbidding contact with family or friends; following or harassing; destroying property; taking control of all decisions; threatening injury to the abused person or to himself if the abused leaves.
The common denominators are power and control. This is what the Women’s Centre staff want the public to know. Tonya Verburg, the Residential Manager of the Women’s Centre in Chatham, says that even the simple act of putting a sign on their building has had an impact. “It makes a building public; it’s no longer a secret of the community,” she says. “It opens the issue and gives people confidence to access our services.”

Anita Brinkman is a part-time tutor and freelance writer from Chatham, Ontario.

Moving forward
In recent years, there has been an increase in women reporting abuse to police and seeking help; Verburg says these statistics may not show a rise in occurrence of abuse, but that “abuse is not the shameful issue we have made it to be. It’s not her fault,” she stresses. “Other things, like job loss, alcoholism, financial issues . . . are just contributing factors.”
There is no “typical” situation of abuse, since the dynamics and experiences of abuse are as diverse as the