University of Victoria

Narratives of victims/Survivors of Interpersonal Violence

This session will examine the stories of victim/survivors tell of their experiences of abuse and their help seeking and coping strategies. We would be particularly interested in victim/survivor's experiences of the "helping" professions; police, prosecutors, counselors child welfare staff and specialized services such as shelters and second stage housing.

Session Organizer: Jane Ursel, University of Manitoba, jane.ursel@ad.umanitoba.ca

Voicing Challenges: South Asian Immigrant Women Speak Out about their Experiences of Domestic Violence and Access to Services

Wendy Aujla, University of Alberta, waujla@gmail.com

Domestic violence is often framed solely as a cultural and marginal problem within our society, despite its far-reaching impact on women from all racial backgrounds. Developing awareness for those affected necessitates reaching common ground on our thinking about abuse in ethno-cultural communities and how society can respond to this problem. Domestic violence exists in the South Asian community but continues to remain largely unaddressed due to it being underreported. Few studies in this area (Agnew, 1999; Chokshi et al, 2010; Shirwadkar, 2004), however, have examined the effectiveness of what community based organizations are offering South Asian immigrant women and whether their needs are being served.

This thesis focuses specifically on interviews conducted with South Asian immigrant women in Edmonton, Alberta, from December 2010 to April 2011. The seven participants disclose not only how abuse was experienced, but also their challenges in reporting and gaining access to services. The overarching power imbalance theory provides insight into the participants’ perceptions. Recommendations about the resources/services are offered to reduce the imbalances of power that exist. This research will also educate researchers, the South Asian community, service providers (South Asian women and mainstream organizations), the Criminal Justice Sector (eg. police officers), and society.

Tuesday June 4, 2013 08:45 AM - 10:15 AM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-062

Adult Male Survivors' Experiences with Disclosure and Help-Seeking Regarding Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Lack of Supportive Spaces

Kristin Atwood, University of Calgary , kmatwood@ucalgary.ca

Although recognition of the sexual abuse of boys is increasing, there are still many barriers to male survivors’ abilities to secure therapeutic assistance in coping with their experiences. In this article, I argue that men’s healing from childhood sexual trauma is hindered by the continued social emphasis on an understanding of masculinity that does not allow for the victimization of men. Using narratives from qualitative interviews with male survivors, I demonstrate that men’s disclosure of abuse and their help-seeking is constrained by men’s own concerns about masculinity, by the gendered negative reactions of others, and by a therapeutic system that assumes female victims and male perpetrators. Men’s help-seeking thus takes place in the context of a lack of safe spaces for and positive messages about men healing from sexual trauma. I show that while acceptance of the existence of male survivors may have increased, this has not yet translated into the provision of accessible services for men who wish to address their traumatic experiences, because masculine ideals that exclude victimization make it difficult for social service providers to recognize men’s need for trauma treatment.

Tuesday June 4, 2013 08:45 AM - 10:15 AM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-062

Sexual exploitation: a life story

Tatiana Landini, Federal University of Sao Paulo, tatalan@uol.com.br , Lauren Zeytounlian, Federal University of Sao Paulo, laurenzeytounlian@gmail.com

The aim of this presentation is to show partial results from an ongoing research on sexual exploitation. Contrary to mainstream research on sexual exploitation against children and young people, this research was designed to listen to some young people involved with prostitution. We will be presenting some data coming from in-deep interviews conducted with a young woman who prostituted herself at a brothel in a coastal city in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The methodology used was life story. In the interviews, we talked about her childhood, teenagerhood, family, work, love relationships, sexual partners, drugs, etc. The invitation to join this brothel came from her sister, who also prostituted herself at this same place a few years before. The young woman interviewed has some contradictory feelings towards this experience. On one hand, she reported having suffered physical violence there. On the other hand, she also talks about a boyfriend that she met there and with whom she fell in love with and some good times and interesting places she went to. Her narrative will be contextualized in order to discuss the category of ‘victim of sexual exploitation’.

Tuesday June 4, 2013 08:45 AM - 10:15 AM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-062

Stories of Strength: Narratives From the Healing Journey

Cheryl Fraehlich, University of Manitoba, cheryl.fraehlich@ad.umanitoba.ca

The Healing Journey is a longitudinal, tri-provincial study examining women’s experience of intimate partner violence (IPV). Over 600 women from the Prairie Provinces participated in seven waves of semi-structured interviews during which they were asked about the impact of IPV on their well-being and their utilization and satisfaction with services. The data for this study also includes qualitative interviews with a subset of women from each province. This paper presents an analysis of the narratives of women from Manitoba as they describe their journey healing from their abuse experiences.The paper highlights women’s accounts of the strategies they used to cope with abuse and the role of formal and informal supports and services in this process.

Tuesday June 4, 2013 08:45 AM - 10:15 AM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-062