Posted on: August 15th, 2016 by Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council
Earlier this year Friends of Crime Prevention hosted Porch Chats, a series of engaging community conversations about complex topics. Each week we gathered on the porch of the Governor’s House where community leaders led us through conversations about local Truth & Reconciliation processes, Racism & Islamophobia, and Sexual Assault & Consent.
Thanks to everyone who attended our Porch Chat series and joined in the discussion. Through these conversations people shared suggestions for further learning, and, where appropriate, action. Several people cautioned against jumping to action without spending enough time listening to those most affected, and carefully considering our own role in making or supporting change.
Caitlin Cull, a Friend of Crime Prevention, attended all three Porch Chats and was invited to share her reflections with us. As well we have outlined a few of the suggestions for further learning and/or action.
Reflections, Learning & Action
Learning Circles from a First Nations Perspective: Truth & Reconciliation (June 9)
“I believe it’s every person’s responsibility to look for opportunities to address blind spots in our understanding. As I listened, I heard stories of intergenerational trauma of Indigenous people in Canada. It was clear that each of us can play a part in implementing the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.” (Caitlin Cull)
Kelly Nixon extended an invitation to the Reconciliation Sharing Circles she holds four times a year (next one is November 27, 2016).
Derek Haime described the work of the TRC Learning Circle, a sub-committee of the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council. They’ve been meeting monthly to develop a proposal for a WRCPC response to the justice-related Calls To Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report.
Naming the Issue: Race, Religion and Creating Welcoming Spaces (June 16)
“I was moved to hear stories of racism and racial profiling of young men in our community. As a white woman with white children I will never need to worry about my children in this way. I cannot even begin to imagine how it must be for mothers to have these sorts of concerns for their children. These stories are important to hear. Ultimately it can be so easy to turn a blind eye, but we mustn’t.” (Caitlin Cull)
Fanis Juma-Radstake shared the work of Young City Growers in engaging newcomer youth & harnessing their skills for community building. Fanis’s work to create safe and welcoming spaces has also continued through her role in facilitating a wider community dialogue about addressing racism.
Sarah also worked with community partners to get the Anti-Racism Directorate to come to Waterloo Region this fall to collect local ideas on addressing systemic racism. Look for it on October 24, 2016.
What’s Your Role? Sexual Violence & Consent (June 23)
“The discussion on gender-based violence really highlighted the importance for me of making sure that we are addressing root causes and not treating symptoms. As a mother of sons I have a responsibility to raise children that are able to handle rejection and understand that others do not owe them anything. Working with young men is the first step to really addressing this problem.” (Caitlin Cull)
Eleanor McGrath shared some of her research into youth’s knowledge of the legal definition of sexual consent. Recently she launched #ConsentED, an exhibit that transforms facts about consent and sexual assault into a vibrant, social-media friendly campaign. #ConsentED shows at the Laurier Campus library until December 21, 2016.
Stephen Soucie told stories about Male Allies, a project of the Sexual Assault Support Centre. Over 100 men have been trained as Male Allies in Waterloo Region and thousands of other men and boys participate in Male Allies workshops each year.
Joan Tuchlinsky talked about the need to call out micro-aggressions in everyday life. Speaking up when someone makes a racist or sexist comment helps creates a culture where hate-based and gender-based violence is not tolerated. The Sexual Assault Support Centre introduced a training program for all OHL teams about respect for women and consent. The Kitchener Rangers will pilot the training this fall.
Let’s keep the conversation going. Let us know about local initiatives that you are involved with that demonstrate further learning and action.
Never have I seen such a beautiful collection of voices, all unique, and yet all singing the same tune. The Everyday: Freedom from Gendered Violence Symposium put on by the Social Innovation Research Group, and brilliantly detailed by Jay Harrison here, was a phenomenal representation of the intersection of research, arts, and community work. While the Symposium had a particular focus on the university experience, its messages are equally applicable in our neighbourhoods and communities as we think about crime prevention and smart approaches to the gendered violence that occurs in those spaces.
I don’t think I could ever do justice to the amazing topics that were discussed – responding to disclosure, the particular experiences of gendered violence faced by racialized and LGBTQ students, engaging men in prevention, and more. So, I thought the best way was to provide some insight from the speakers themselves:
I sat and thought, ‘good question!’ How can we talk about safety without first talking about what that means? Discussions of violence and crime prevention should always start at the roots.
Dr. Woodford was speaking about the slurs and comments made to LGBTQ students. But for me, I was struck by the thought of how often we doubt ourselves, as well as our friends and our families when they tell us about something seemingly “minor” is said to them: ‘Oh come on, it’s not so bad…’
Tatyana amazed me with this beautiful comparison of street harassment to domestic violence: if a man was yelling derogatory names at his wife, we would call it abuse. When women have cat-calls yelled at them from across the street, however, we tend to brush it off and ignore it.
“The kind of terrorism I want to talk about in this country is domestic violence.” –Judah Oudshoorn
While the media and our governments continue to feed us horrible stories of the atrocities occurring under the umbrella of terrorism, sometimes we forget about the atrocities happening much closer to home – maybe in our homes, maybe in our neighbour’s home.
“Sexual violence is a strategy of war – it is not just against the women, but also the community – it is an attempt to demoralize the community.” –Dr. Eliana Suarez
At the Crime Prevention Council, we often talk about the role of community as a building block for crime prevention. If sexual violence is designed to demoralize a community, then we, as that community, must take a leading role in preventing it.
“Either you’re violent, silent, or creating meaningful change. And if you’re silent, you’re violent.” –Judah Oudshoorn
What a powerful statement. I know which role I choose to play.
“Women are not just resilient, they are resistant – they attempt to change their circumstance.” –Dr. Eliana Suarez
“Maybe there is more than one way to be a man.” –Stephen Soucie
I felt these two quotes belonged together. Discussions around gendered violence often leave me feeling sad and hopeless. But these two spoke of hope, optimism, and change for both men and women.
“It is easier to build stronger children than to fix broken men.” –Stephen Soucie
Again, I felt another ray of hope. Through my research at the Crime Prevention Council, I have learned that early interventions have astonishing success in reducing rates of crime. This is where I think we should be investing our time, energy, and dollars.
“Compliance is important, but compassion is more important.” –David McMurray
An important reminder to wrap things up: while being “tough on crime” continues to get lots of media attention, we would be wise to look at the evidence base and the fact that the majority of “tough on crime” approaches do nothing to reduce crime. Early intervention, prevention that is proven to work, and renewed focus on humane approaches to rehabilitation and reintegration, would go much further toward reducing incidents of crime and victimization.
There were a myriad of other speakers who had insightful comments, but unfortunately, I am only able to present a small portion here. The passion in the room from each and every speaker was evident – from the researchers to the artists to the community workers. They all shared with us their struggles, and yet I came out the other side feeling hopeful and fulfilled. If they can commit themselves to this struggle, they must feel that it is important and that change can be made. As I move forward in working on my Master of Social Work thesis next year, which touches on this topic, I feel like maybe I can contribute a small portion to this struggle. Maybe, someday, we could live in a world where everyday, we were free from gendered violence.
“The struggle is real… the struggle continues” –Janice Lee
How are YOU contributing to the struggle?
Eleanor McGrath
Author:Eleanor is a Master of Social Work student at Wilfrid Laurier University. She is completing her first placement at the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council, working on a narrative literature review of how crime mapping can be used to implement community-based prevention initiatives. Her favourite hobbies are laughing, rock climbing, and travelling.
That’s the response I usually get from friends and family when I tell them that I’ve spent the past two years coordinating a project to address gendered violence against university students. I generally concur with the exasperation, but am quick to point out that it seems unfair to expect to see less gendered violence on campus when relatively little has changed in how we address it on university campuses and in the surrounding communities in which university students live, work and play.
Engage with campus and community participants on issues related to gendered violence against students in our community.
The Change Project, a university-community collaboration funded by Status of Women Canada and led by the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region has taken a long view approach to working toward safer campuses in our region. Over the past 2 years we have talked to over 650 students, staff, faculty and community stakeholders at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo as part of 2 separate needs assessments. The goal of this work has been to understand what our institutions of higher learning are doing well in terms of addressing gendered violence – both in its prevention and response – and what still needs to be done. Ultimately, our aim was to end gendered violence on campus through transforming the institutional and cultural climate of the universities and communities.
Both universities have remarkable capacity to address gendered violence and we have been inspired by the growing attention they have paid the issue over the course of the project. They are also aware of some of the gaps that need to be filled and have begun to demonstrate their capacity to do so in earnest.
What we have learned is that gendered violence – including sexual assault, sexual harassment, intimate partner violence, stalking, biphobia, transphobia and homophobia – is ubiquitous; that is, it happens wherever students are. For students in Waterloo Region that means they are encountering violence in their classrooms and residence buildings as well as in our community: our restaurants and bars, parks, buses, and neighbourhoods. In fact, previous research suggests that most incidents of sexual violence that students experience happen off-campus, outside of the geographic boundaries of the university. And students experience campus life socially, the social boundaries of which can extend quite deeply into our community.
I think this points to a need to look at gendered violence against students as a whole community concern. The efforts of our campuses to prevent gendered violence and support survivors will inevitably fall short if we do not start with a definition of the problem that takes the entire community as its focus and potential site of intervention. How we frame the problem will inform what happens next, who acts and how, and who is held accountable for ensuring student, and by extension community, safety. By broadening our frame of reference we also create an opportunity to draw connections between the gendered violence that is experienced by students with the violence experienced by other members of our community. I believe we can open new doors of possibility for developing truly innovative solutions to an age-old problem by connecting the capacity and knowledge that resides in the university with that of the community.
Are you interested in this topic? The Social Innovation Research Group invites you to join us for a 2-day symposium, Everyday: Freedom from Gendered Violence, March 11th and 12th to engage with campus and community participants on issues related to gendered violence against students in our community. Visit the SIRG website for more information about The Change Project.
Jay Harrison
Author: Jay Harrison is the coordinator for The Change Project at the Social Innovation Research Group. She has been working on issues related to gendered violence against students in Waterloo Region since 2005 when she was an undergraduate student at Wilfrid Laurier University. Jay works with social sector organizations in Waterloo Region and beyond to support their social change efforts through research and evaluation.
Posted on: February 4th, 2014 by Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council
How do we get at the root causes of crime and prevent it from happening in the first place?
This isn’t a direct, straight answer, but, the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council believes part of the solution is to monitor the root causes of crime over time. Then we, as a community, can better understand and address the social, community and economic conditions associated with crime and victimization. Check out the Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council’s report – A Snapshot in Time: The Root Causes of Crime in Waterloo Region to find out how we are doing in early childhood development, employment, community trust and other important indicators.
In the months following the report’s release, community residents, leaders and experts wrote blogs responses to share stories, insights and examples of how our community is responding to the root causes of crime outlined in the report. When we read all the fantastic community responses together like a book, we started to notice some themes and commonalities.
Many blogs responses focused on the importance of individual actions in building a safe and healthy community. Volunteering, owning a home and having a stake in a healthy neighbourhood or simple acts of noticing instead of “pretend(ing) to be an island” all make a positive difference .
Waterloo City Councillor, Karen Scian, tells a moving story of her encounter with a ‘squeegee kid’ at a red light as a way of illustrating how social capital (positive connections between people) is something we can all build and that protects against crime.
“His green eyes instantly reminded me of [my son] Peter. What if? …I…called him over…We chatted…and [I] gave him paper money. I gave him my business card. I asked him to call his mom…He thanked me again and told me that he was going to get something to eat and that he would call his mom…I had to hope.”
Higher levels of home ownership also serve as a protective factor against crime. Local realtor Keith Marshall is optimistic since “we are trending well in Kitchener-Waterloo. Crime is down. Homeownership is up. Neighbourhoods that were considered unsafe and decaying fifteen years ago are transforming into sought after and vibrant places to live.”
Calls for transformative changes to address root causes
Many contributors spoke passionately of the need for deep structural changes in our communities and systems in order to transform the social and economic conditions that contribute to crime and victimization.
In reflecting on the “deplorable” rates of violence against women and the need for a larger shelter in Waterloo Region in recent years, Mary Zilney asks:
“Why doesn’t our government create a system whereby the women and children remain in the family home and the abuser is removed? …Instead of building bigger shelters, we need to turn our minds to how we collaboratively eradicate violence against women.”
Part of the solution lies in changing attitudes and awareness
Many contributors agreed that part of the societal transformation required to address the root causes of crime and build healthy communities is changing attitudes so that all people are valued and treated with respect and understanding.
Sara Casselman writes about an innovative program to reduce incidences of sexual assault that works “with men in positions to influence male youth.” This program “encourages young men to treat women with fairness, equality and respect and to stand up and speak out on gendered violence.”
“when we provide those in need with stable housing we give the opportunity to live with dignity, reduce crime, reduce addiction and give the opportunity for better success. It is a win, win situation…We need to put as much effort into creating awareness and fundraising for this as we do when collecting food and socks.”
“the root of all root causes…is the stigmatization of people living in poverty. Societal attitudes / values impact our political voting choices and influence policy decisions…. if enough of us TRULY believed that everyone was a valuable member of society, we’d have much better policies in place that reflect that belief.”
Thank you to the community contributors for sharing these insights and calls to action. There’s more to come. Tune in to the next blog for part two of The Community Weighs in on the Root Causes of Crime. We’ll review the some more themes and provide additional reflections and food for thought.
Over the years, our crisis call numbers have fluctuated. In the last decade, there’s been a trend towards a moderate decline in the number of calls received, but the overall demand for our services has increased significantly. The explanation for this is simple; historically we provided more basic information related to services and supports on our crisis line. With much of that information now readily available online, the calls we most often receive today are supportive in nature or focused on crisis intervention.
With new ways of communicating emerging, our Centre has begun to explore the option of incorporating live online support into our crisis and support services.
Who else is involved in addressing this issue?
Awareness of the prevalence and impact of sexual violence has begun to increase regionally, thanks to the commitment of community partners to work in a spirit of collaboration.
In 2007, our community began to mobilize on this issue. A number of service providers formed a network which evolved into the Sexual Assault Response Team of Waterloo Region (SART). SART is now a community coordinating committee made up of 18 partner agencies from the criminal justice sector, the health sector, and the social services sector.
In 2012, SART launched a community protocol for responding to sexual assault in our region. The first such protocol of its kind in Waterloo Region, its purpose is to give service providers a broader foundation for the work they do. The protocol establishes a common understanding and framework for the provision of services to survivors of sexual violence, enabling greater coordination and collaboration between community partners.
What should be done?
Sexual violence impacts people of every age and cultural background, and has devastating impacts on individuals, families and communities. Every survivor, regardless of gender, deserves access to specialized support services in our community to promote healing.
As a region and more broadly, we need to balance our investment in support services for survivors of sexual violence and with public education campaigns aimed at prevention. We have consistently seen that early-intervention and prevention are necessary and cost effective.
It is important to understand, however, that sexual violence is primarily perpetrated by men, against women, children, and trans people.
As such, we need to consider social constructions of gender when looking at the prevention of sexualized crimes. Sexual violence is about power and control, not sexual desire. It is about aggressively dominating someone else.
This knowledge was the impetus behind the creation our Male Allies Against Sexual Violence (MAASV) program in 2008. MAASV is a unique public education program focused on working with men in positions to influence male youth (such as coaches, faith leaders, teachers, and fathers). The program explores how popular conceptions of masculinity can limit men’s freedoms and harm others. MAASV encourages young men to treat women with fairness, equality and respect and to stand up and speak out on gendered violence. (More information on MAASV can be found here: www.MaleAllies.org)
Sexual violence is pervasive, but it’s not inevitable. Through public education, social change is possible. A better future exists for our daughters and our sons.
Author: Sara Casselman is the Public Relations & Operations Manager at the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region. In the anti-violence against women sector for more than a decade, Sara has been recognized provincially as a Leading Women, Building Communities Award Recipient (2011) and was featured in The Record’s 40 under 40 (2012).
Data Source: Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region, Annual Report
Story Behind the Numbers
The Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region calls for service have varied considerably since 2007. In the past year there has not been a noticeable increase in the number of calls to the crisis line. In 2012 there was no wait list for men but the wait list for counselling services for women reached an all time high of 40 despite an additional part time counsellor and reducing the number of sessions for some clients. This decrease in counselling availability is creating hardships for victims and may be one reason behind the increase in calls to the crisis line rather than indicative of an increase in sexual assaults.
Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region operates two emergency shelters for abused women and their children: Anselma House in Kitchener and Haven House in Cambridge (for a total of 75 beds) plus a regional Outreach program. We are the only agency of its kind in Waterloo Region.
Annually, Women’s Crisis Services provides assistance (shelter and outreach services combined) to about 2,600 women and their children; approximately one third of this number is children. According to Stats Canada, less than one quarter of victims of domestic violence report the incident to police. In Waterloo Region, with a population of approximately 550,000 residents, police respond to about 6,100 domestic violence calls per year. If this number reflects one quarter as suggested by Stats Canada, then 24,400 women in our community are being abused. Even for those of us who do not excel in math, one is easily able to decipher that these numbers are quite bizarre; especially when considering the number of abused women and their children that Women’s Crisis Services is assisting per year. Undoubtedly, we have much work to do in ending violence against women here in Waterloo Region.
Did you know that every six days, another woman in Canada is murdered by her current or former partner? And, every night in Canada, more than 3,000 women (along with their 2,500 children) stay in an emergency shelter because it’s not safe for them at home. This is beyond deplorable! Why is it that in 2013, after centuries of male domination that we are still tolerating abuse against women and children in our society and moreover in our community? Further, why doesn’t our government create a system whereby the women and children remain in the family home and the abuser is removed?
2013 marks the 35th anniversary of Women’s Crisis Services; having provided shelter and outreach services to our community since 1978. A few trends have been evidenced over the past decade. Our agency has experienced a steady decline in crisis phone calls and simultaneously a significant increase in shelter stays; to the point whereby in 2011 Anselma House opened its new 45 bed facility, replacing the previous 20 bed building. We are now planning to rebuild Haven House also, in order to continue meeting the needs of abused women and their children in Waterloo Region. Instead of building bigger shelters, we need to turn our minds to how we collaboratively eradicate violence against women.
One of our agency’s primary objectives is our commitment to continuous improvement; more so now than ever, in order to meet the needs of the younger generation whose methods of communication style are through social media. Abuse takes on many faces in addition to physical assaults. Stalking has and continues to be a serious misuse of power and control in relationships. This is exacerbated through the use of texting by abusers. Many of our young women do not view obsessive texting as abusive; but rather as a display of affection. This is just one example of how our awareness and education needs to shift in order to reach this and future generations.
With our 35 year history, comes the stark reality that we are now serving the third generation of abused women in the same families. Breaking the intergenerational cycle of abuse is critical to the eradication of violence against women. Doing so requires the input and assistance of our community…and that means each of us. Violence against women is a societal issue and therefore requires a community response. We need to be diligent and active. Each of us needs to make a pledge that abuse is unacceptable and we will not tolerate it…ever. And then we need to turn our commitment into action and when we become aware of an abusive situation, we need to intervene rather than view the matter as a private one and look the other way. It is only by working together in partnership that violence and abuse against women in our community will be reduced and eventually eradicated.
Author: Mary Zilney Mary Zilney has a Master’s degree in Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University. For the past 8 years, she has held the position of Chief Executive Officer of Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region. Mary has worked in the area of family violence for almost 20 years.
Posted on: August 7th, 2013 by Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council
Less than one quarter of victims of domestic violence report the incident to police. Collecting information from the Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region provides an additional method of tracking domestic violence rates independent of police data. The chart below measures the number of women and children who received support in a Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region shelter, the number of crisis calls received, and the number of women served through outreach by Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region.
The Statistics
Source Data: Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region, Annual Report
The Story Behind the Numbers
The crisis calls for support recently dropped. The number of women served through outreach appears to be relatively stable over the past three years. In the past year the number of women and children living in shelters increased dramatically. This increase is believed to be associated with the opening of the new site for the shelter. The opening generated publicity and improved living conditions for women in the shelter which is believed to have made women more comfortable seeking service.
Being a leader doesn’t necessarily mean being at the front of a rally with a megaphone. There are many components to leadership. It’s important, especially for the guys reading this, to remember that we are all leaders, whether to our brothers and sisters, our partners, our friends, or to our sons and daughters.
The sexism, misogyny, transphobia and homophobia found in the media and in our everyday interactions can be overwhelming and confronting these issues can make us feel vulnerable or powerless. At the same time, many men (and women) do not know how to confront these issues in their own lives. Unfortunately, this means that a lot of us remain silent. However, when we remain silent about violence against women we are perpetuating a rape culture – whether we intend to or not.
What does rape culture mean?
Rape culture is a term used to describe a society wherein sexual violence is normalized through behaviours, attitudes and practices that tolerate rape. Okay… what does that mean? Rape is not the only action that perpetuates rape. How we act and what we say go a long way in telling those around us what is acceptable. For example, if we laugh or remain silent when a rape joke is told by one of our co-workers while we are not condoning the behaviour described in the joke – we are allowing the attitude expressed by the person who told the joke to remain unchallenged and spread.
While sexist and misogynistic attitudes may not physically harm women we know that language structures our thoughts and behaviours. The more prevalent these attitudes become, the more they are internalized by men and used as justification for their treatment of women. Admittedly, the intent of jokes that dehumanize women is generally not to encourage men to physically harm women. However, the impact of rape jokes is the creation of a rape culture that tells the men listening that their behaviours and attitudes towards women are acceptable.
Undoubtedly, this is a societal issue — but it also needs to be addressed individually. I want to encourage men to become accountable in their own lives and understand that they can make a difference simply by working to be the best version of themselves that they can be. One way we can do this is by leading with lollipops:
To end, I would like to say that while men need to become more active, we must continue to be accountable to women and women’s organizations such as the Sexual Assault Support Centre Waterloo Region (sascwr.org) who have been doing this work for decades and who make the work we do possible. Men who become involved in ending violence against women are often romanticized while the work of women goes ignored or unnoticed. As such, it is important to remember that while the dominant construction of masculinity may not work for all men – patriarchy does.
Author: Stephen Soucie is a MAASV Public Education Facilitator for the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region. Currently, he is a Masters student in the Critical Sociology program at Brock University. His research areas include: violence against women, men and masculinities, masculinity and sport, and engaging men in anti-violence activism.
Stand Up. Speak out. is the invitation MAASV extends to men and male youth to be part of the work of ending gendered violence in Waterloo Region. One in five men (21%) reported that they did not actively support community efforts to stop violence against women because no one had asked them to get involved.
Well, we’re asking!
A gendered analysis of sexual violence recognizes that women and children make up the majority of those who experience sexual assault and men make up the majority (98%) of offenders (Statistics Canada, 2003). Given the high percentage of male perpetrators, the significant percentage of boys who experience sexual abuse and the men whose lives are impacted when someone close to them experiences sexual violence, this is clearly a men’s issue too.
MAASV provides training and resources for parents, teachers, coaches and social service providers or will facilitate workshops with youth. Topics include: healthy masculinity, healthy relationships, respect, diversity and more.
Check out Jackson Katz – educator, author and filmmaker – internationally recognized for his ground-breaking work in the field of gender violence prevention education with men and boys. Katz speaks about men’s involvement in ending gendered violence.
In two upcoming guest blog posts you will hear from some of our male allies about their experiences and the strategies and tools they have learned and use in their lives.
Author: Joan Tuchlinsky is the Public Education Manager at the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region and coordinates the MAASV program. She is inspired by her five children and three grandchildren to work with others to create a safer and more equitable world.
“I believe it’s every person’s responsibility to look for opportunities to address blind spots in our understanding. As I listened, I heard stories of intergenerational trauma of Indigenous people in Canada. It was clear that each of us can play a part in implementing the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.” (Caitlin Cull)
“I was moved to hear stories of racism and racial profiling of young men in our community. As a white woman with white children I will never need to worry about my children in this way. I cannot even begin to imagine how it must be for mothers to have these sorts of concerns for their children. These stories are important to hear. Ultimately it can be so easy to turn a blind eye, but we mustn’t.” (Caitlin Cull)
“The discussion on gender-based violence really highlighted the importance for me of making sure that we are addressing root causes and not treating symptoms. As a mother of sons I have a responsibility to raise children that are able to handle rejection and understand that others do not owe them anything. Working with young men is the first step to really addressing this problem.” (Caitlin Cull)
Author: Sara Casselman is the Public Relations & Operations Manager at the 
Author: Mary Zilney
Source Data: Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region, Annual Report