For over 30 years Catholic Family Services – Peel Dufferin (CFSPD) has provided a significant amount of clinical counselling and support specific to the Violence Against Women (VAW) sector. They provide exceptional counselling and support services to women and their children in the region of Peel who have been subjected to or witnessed violence. They also offer important psychoeducational groups to promote healing from the impacts of abuse.  In addition, they work closely with men in their community. In my interview with CFSPD’s executive director, Sharon Mayne Devine, she reaffirmed the organization’s commitment “to strengthen and enrich individual, family, and community life.” She explained that CFSPD offers crucial and accessible services through their multiple locations. Counselling services are provided in a multitude of languages, including English, French, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Mandarin, Polish, Punjabi, Spanish, Urdu and Tamil. Additionally, there are no fees for services for many programs.  Where there is a fee, it is determined by a sliding scale, which takes into account the size of a person’s family and their income. No person who attempts to access services within their agency is refused due to their income. Thus, CFSPD has made a commitment to serve as many members of their community as possible.

 

Ms. Mayne Devine informed me that CFSPD owns and operates The Honourable William G. Davis Centre for Families, located in Brampton, Ontario. She explained that out of this centre, operates the Safe Centre of Peel (SCoP), a collaboration of multiple agencies to provides wrap around, integrated services to victims of intimate partner violence. Sharon informed that CFSPD is the lead agency of this collaboration and ensures that this hub allows victims to have coordinated and comprehensive services as effectively and efficiently as possible. She also disclosed the importance of the collaboration that takes place within the Helping End Abuse for Life (HEAL) Network. This network is made up of 19 agencies throughout Brampton, Mississauga and Caledon that work together in an effort to help children “heal from their exposure to woman abuse.”

 

When asked to discuss the benefits of the vital work her agency conducts, Ms. Mayne Devine stated that a prominent advantage of the services offered by CFSPD is their collaboration with a vast number of agencies in the region. She explained that navigating the VAW sector for victims is made infinitely less daunting through the wrap around services offered by SCoP and the other CFSPD locations.

 

It was noted that an associated benefit of being a family service agency working with a VAW lens is that there is a greater opportunity to identify VAW, as a significant number of women and children accessing services at CFSPD locations will be hesitant or very reluctant to divulge that they have been victims and may present their issues as unrelated to VAW. This allows for easier identification of the warning signs of abuse and therefor intervening earlier. 

 

Working within the VAW sector can also be very challenging. Ms. Mayne Devine acknowledged that it is emotionally impactful on staff, particularly front-line workers. Other challenges include, insufficient funding to meet the community need, and a growing demand for services. Sharon also stated that this can result in a lack of competitive salaries for her staff that do this critical and emotionally demanding work. It was noted that salaries within this sector are not as high as those within the health and education sectors. This at times results in the agency being the “farm team,” for Health and education funded sectors as staff leave for jobs in these organizations, said Ms. Mayne Devine.

 

When asked if she thought that feminism as a theoretical foundation/philosophy has shifted within the VAW sector, Ms. Mayne Devine explained that she believes that feminism has, rather, evolved. She believes that there is now a more sophisticated understanding of feminist frameworks, and within the VAW sector, having a gendered analysis is critical. Sharon expanded, stating that she believes there is now a far greater understanding of marginalized populations as a result of feminism. She believes that having an intersectional lens is very important in the realm of VAW; race, culture, religion, etc., are all elements of an individual’s social location, and holding on to all of these lenses when working with an individual is vitally important as it will allow for the most appropriate and comprehensive services. Moreover, the region of Peel is made up of 51% of the people born outside of Canada. Many of those seeking the support from the CFSPD come from minority communities or are new Canadians. Thus, Sharon explained, an intersectional, anti-oppressive, intersectional, cultural lens is of the utmost importance within the work conducted by the CFSPD. Holding these lenses firmly and holding respect, she stated, is critical.

 

Ms. Mayne Devine stated that there is no “united feminist voice,” and the literature with respect to feminist frameworks is diverse. Thus, she explained, that applying one particular feminist lens to VAW work becomes problematic. The diversity within feminism creates issues when working with a broad and intersectional community. For instance, Sharon stated that it is necessary within the VAW to support independence and autonomy; it is important to support a women’s choices even if they do not align with the staff supporting them. Sharon added that a goal of her agency is to empower women, even in instances when their cultures do not. She believes that the CFSPD can support and empower women in these challenging circumstances.

 

When examining VAW work (e.g., sexual assault, physical abuse, etc.) from a political lens, Ms. Mayne Devine stated that within this sector there would be limited progress without advocacy from individuals, groups, and agencies, making this work political. For instance, the #MeToo movement is currently drawing significant attention to sexual assault. Sharon explained that it “takes political action to move the needle on important issues” such as VAW work. She stated that often, governments don’t lead, they respond to issues as they emerge from the electorate. Therefore advocacy is necessary to move such agendas forward. Tension exists, however, in that agencies providing services to victims of VAW and advocating for these individuals are often funded by the government. Sharon highlighted that no matter the degree or perspective, any action is political. She stated that any time a woman takes a stance, that is, in itself, political. Thus, change is possible, one women at a time, one group at a time.

With respect to her hopes for a public forum for agencies conducting VAW work within the Central Ontario region, Ms. Mayne Devine stated that she hopes agencies engage in difficult questions and grapple with the complexity of VAW issues. She acknowledged her hopes for agencies to respect each other in terms of the variety of perspectives that they may hold. Sharon’s belief is that respectful dialogue can be challenging in certain instances, but this is where she sees the greatest potential for growth across Central Ontario with regard to VAW work and agency collaboration. She is excited for the great diversity of perspectives, education, social locations and experiences that inform VAW work, and believes that this collaboration is made up of many good people navigating extremely complex circumstances.