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Violence Against Women
Violence Against Women
Violence against women is a very important issue both in terms of the volume of incidents and in terms of the effects on women and families and on our community. Crime Prevention Ottawa has made progress in developing prevention programming and on putting prevention on the public agenda.
Initiatives
Don’t Be That Guy Campaign
Ottawa’s “Don’t be that guy” campaign was launched in May 2011 in conjunction with the Building Prevention: Sexual Violence, Youth and Drinking conference and Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The posters take a refreshing and new approach to tackling sexual violence among youth aged 19 to 25. Instead of placing responsibility for preventing sexual assault in the hands of victims, the posters appeal to potential offenders—speaking directly to them in their language. The posters will be placed in men’s washrooms in participating bars in the city, as well as other places where young people go. Learn more
Research on Sexual Assault with a Focus on Alcohol
Following an open RFP process in 2010, CPO contracted the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre, in partnership with the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women and an academic, to further our work by undertaking a best practices review and scan of activities in Ottawa with regards to the prevention of sexual assault in general and in addition a special focus on alcohol.
The recently released research, Building Prevention: Sexual Violence, Youth and Drinking, is an insightful look at a critical problem. It found that young people have mixed understanding about the issue, and there are almost no prevention programs that address alcohol-related sexual violence. Alcohol-related community services focus on addiction and drunk driving, but don’t integrate a sexual violence component. Learn more in the executive summary and full research report.
Reference Group on Violence Against Women
In August 2006, an ad hoc committee on the prevention of violence against women (VAW) was created, the committee has now become the Reference Group on VAW. The group meets approximately every 6 weeks and is composed of Caroline Andrew, Holly Johnson, Lucya Spencer and Nancy Worsfold.
The Reference Group guides the work of Crime Prevention Ottawa with regards to the issue of violence against women.
Speaker Series
Over the past year, three of the CPO Speaker Series events related to the Reference Group on VAW and were the result of consultation and advice from this committee:
December 7, 2009: “Engaging Men in Family Violence Prevention: An Australian’s Story,” Keynote Speaker: Tracy Castelino, University of Melbourne; Chair: Caroline Andrew; Respondents: Erin Williams, OCTEVAW and Mark Holmes, New Directions. Attendance 105.
March 8, 2010: “Sisters in Spirit,” Keynote speaker: Kate Rexe, Native Women’s Association of Canada; Chair: Chantal Bernier; Respondents: Louise Logue: Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health and Ottawa Police Services and Irene Compton, Minwaashin Lodge. Attendance 75.
June 15, 2010: “Bill 168: Ontario’s New Workplace Violence and Harassment Legislation,” Keynote speaker: Kecia Podetz- Emond Harnden, Chair: Barbara MacKinnon, Respondents: Gregory Dack, Corporate Security, City of Ottawa and Matthew Garrison, Sandy Hill CHC, Director of Administration. Attendance 65.
Connecting on Disability and Abuse (CODA)
Building on a speaker series event in October 2008 and a town hall meeting in April 2009, Crime Prevention Ottawa in partnership with REACH and other community agencies, the City and the Ottawa Police Service has created “Connecting on Disability and Abuse (CODA). CODA is a community- based initiative dedicated to developing awareness and understanding of the abuse of people with disabilities and working towards prevention. CODA has developed Terms of Reference, a definition of abuse and a workplan. The committee held a successful launch event on June 11, 2010.
CODA now focused on delivering on the workplan: a seminar is being planned which will look at the ODSP program and people seeking to flee abuse. CODA has also been successful in securing a contribution from the federal Justice Department’s Victim’s Fund to provide workshops for service providers on understanding and identifying abuse.
The Fourth R
Staff continue to support the introduction of this evidence based dating violence prevention program in English public and Catholic schools in Ottawa. Training sessions were held in the fall of 2009 and 2010. Over 100 teachers have been trained to deliver The Fourth R, covering all 50 English language high schools in Ottawa. The two French school boards are working toward implementation of The Fourth R for the 2011-12 academic year. The program meets the curriculum requirements of the Ontario Ministry of Education, and is taught as part of the regular health and physical education curriculum without the requirement of additional class time.
Public Education and Supporting “Man Talk”
CPO has been a sponsor and supporter of two events organized by the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women, including: Man Talk, two one day conferences in October 2009 and Man Talk Two – the Bro-versation Continues in April 2010. Both events successfully engaged service providers and young men in discussions of preventing sexual violence.
