Dima Amad, Director of Programs and Services with Muslim Community Services shared some information about the organization and some of the work they do within the VAW sector.

 

Please tell me a little bit about your organization?

 

Muslim Community Services (MCS) is a non-profit community based social service agency, established in 1987. Its mandate is to meet the needs of a very diverse multiracial, multilingual and multicultural community in the Region of Peel and strives to develop programs that provide services to meet client needs and to help residents, immigrants and refugees to integrate into the Canadian society.

 

The MCS mission statement is “Strengthening Our Community by Reaching Out to Those In Need”. MCS objective of supporting individuals and families and helping them overcome barriers standing in the way of their full integration into society and the economy is accomplished by enhancing knowledge, developing skills, building capacity, facilitating

access to opportunities, improving socio-economic well-being and embracing diversity.

 

MCS serves more than 6000 individuals annually in Brampton and Mississauga through its two

core programs, the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and the Violence

Against Women (VAW) program, as well as through a variety of services and supports

focused on seniors and youth. All of MCS services are delivered within an anti-oppressive

framework discouraging labeling, stigma, exclusion and promoting values of equity, inclusion,

and empowerment at all levels and situations. Furthermore, MCS practices are collaborative in

nature and recognize that each client is an expert in their own life.

 

Tell me about some of the projects that you’ve worked on that you’re especially proud of at

your organization?

 

In the Violence Against Women program they try to think of creative ways to raise awareness

and reach the “hard to reach” women with information and messages that can empower them

and help them address the violence in their lives. The communities MCS work with are not

necessarily open to talking about violence or abusive behavior in the family. For many, this is a private matter that involves the family reputation and honour and should not be discussed with “outsiders”.

 

MCS is currently piloting an innovative way to engage these women by using a cherished tradition to help them open up, talk, listen and learn about the rights that they have as women living in Canada. Since the majority of women MCS serves are from South Asian backgrounds, they chose the traditional practice of Henna or Mehndi, the art of hand and body painting, primarily a women’s function that is applied during weddings, engagements, and other celebrations. Similar to tattoos, Henna is used for self-expression, inspiration, reminders, blessings & well-being. It is also used to camouflage scars. So they are currently recruiting Henna Artists in Peel to raise awareness on domestic violence. Henna Artists will be trained how to speak and converse about domestic violence in a non-judgmental and culturally sensitive way. They will educate women about community resources, for example, about counselling, shelters, school, health, and housing. While promoting violence against women awareness, they will also be trained to recognize the signs of abuse, speak to women about how to stay safe, and help women combat social isolation, expand their social network, and share their stories and talents.

 

What are some of the benefits and challenges of working with women and children within your organization? How do you make sense of these challenges?

 

The majority of the abused women seeking services from MCS are from South Asian background. MCS offer a variety of services in different languages under one roof such as settlement, employment, support counseling, language classes, leadership development and mental health counselling. Women are encouraged to access those services to improve their well-being.

 

One of the challenges is that women living in an abusive relationship are afraid of leaving the relationship because they believe that their partners will become more dangerous and can harm them out of vengeance. Another challenge faced while counseling women is when the women feel they are financially dependent on their husbands and won’t be able to survive if they leave the abusive partner. While OW, rent-geared-to-income and Legal Aid Ontario is a ray of hope for them, these resources do not promise much for those women who are deprived of education, skills or have other issues like mental health.

 

In addition to being financially dependent, many of the immigrant women MCS serve are sponsored by their husbands (abusers) also fear that reporting abuse and leaving the relationship will jeopardize their immigration status in Canada. They are unaware of their rights as sponsored dependents due to language barriers and many of them believe they have to pay off a sponsorship debt and risk being deported. MCS tries to educate women that the immigration law that forced a sponsored woman to stay with her sponsor for a minimum of two years or face deportation is no longer in effect.

 

The first challenge is real in the sense that many abusers lash out in an attempt to regain control over their partner, because they believe they have nothing left to lose. In 45% of cases where a man killed a woman, it was because that woman tried to leave an abusive relationship.

 

The other challenge also makes sense because women deprived of education or skills continue to live in abusive relationships because they are totally dependent on their partners for their survival.

 

Do you think feminism as a theoretical foundation/philosophy has shifted within the VAW sector?

 

MCS believes feminism as a theory has shifted within the VAW sector over time and has now become more inclusive and broader. Initially feminists focused on domestic violence highlighting male violence against women, but has changed with domestic violence being viewed with a wider lens when it became evident that domestic violence exists in same-sex relations and that children are also victims of adult violence perpetrated by both men and women. Feminist movement which focused on men as abusers and women as victims actually reinforce the idea that it is acceptable for the more powerful party to maintain power over the dominated by using coercive force. But now majority of women see themselves as equal to men and are also concerned about the far reaching impact of violence on children. Also what was initially viewed as a women’s only space has now included men as allies in the fight against male violence against women.

 

Another shift occurred when feminists realized that in order to end violence against women there needs to be an end to all violence and forms of oppression. This required an examination of the underlying causes and understanding how women's overlapping identities of race, class, sexual orientation and other factors impact the way they experience oppression and discrimination. However, even with this understanding there remains a gap in policies and services for VAW survivors whose identities intersect at multiple levels. VAW counsellors are often at loss how to support these women.

 

Do you think VAW work is politicized/ political work?

 

If political work means looking at the issue of VAW critically in order to act upon it and bring about positive change then yes MCS thinks it should be political. They are behind any political work that could bring more awareness to the issue, change people’s attitude, and advocate for better laws, regulations, more funding, and decision making that would put an end to VAW. But MCS is against the work of VAW being used to score points or further an agenda for any political party or to be used solely for political gains.

 

As mentioned earlier the majority of women served by MCS are newcomers to Canada who are sponsored by their husbands and one of the barriers preventing them from reporting abuse or leaving the relationship is fear of losing their immigration status and being deported. MCS has engaged in advocacy efforts with the settlement sector for changes to be made in the immigration law that came into effect in 2012 which forced a sponsored woman to stay with her sponsor for at least two years, or risk losing her permanent resident status and ultimately be deported. This law was abolished in April 2017.

 

What are your hopes for the VAW Forum of Central Region?

 

MCS hopes the VAW Forum of Central Region continues to do what it does best, namely, to bring the sector and other stakeholders together for a shared vision and commitment to support the growing diversity of women who experience abuse as well as to continue to improve service delivery to meet current and emerging needs.

 

Some key themes MCS would like the forum to focus on: Developing strategies to support women who are economically dependent on their abuser and their lack of education, training or skills to find employment on their own; Training for front line staff on supporting LGBTQ victims of violence; and training and resources on family court advocacy.