IIIc. THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE COMMUNITY RESIDENTS AND LEADERS FOCUS GROUPS

Two focus groups consisting of community leaders and residents were convened at each site. Each of the focus groups consisted of 7 participants who represented a variety of different sectors and occupations. They included: municipal councillors, church representatives, school trustees, representatives from the labour councils and unions, community health representatives, and directors of various community organizations.

Overview of the Questions

Interview questions pertaining to the Focus Groups for Community Residents and Leaders addressed a variety of issues and concerns. The questions initially dealt with definitions of woman abuse in the respective communities, types of abuse that are extant, perceptions regarding whether the abuse had increased, decreased or remained the same. Participants were asked to define factors contributing to rural woman abuse, as well as their community's response to and treatment of woman abuse. They were also asked to identify the specific barriers that women survivors of abuse face, and provide suggestions on how their communities can best respond to woman abuse.

1. THE MEANING OF WOMAN ABUSE IN THE COMMUNITY

In rural areas woman abuse manifests itself in many ways. Participants cited different types of abuse and control strategies used by abusers in geographically and culturally isolated contexts. They participated in a dialogue on the gendered relations of power between women and men in both a wider societal context and in their own local communities. However, they concurred that the meaning of woman abuse in their communities is largely one which involves physical violence, and which is accompanied by visible signs of abuse. As this participant stated:

This community may be more likely to react to gross physical violence. You can see it, you can't deny it. But I think there is a tremendous amount of denial in this community about other kinds of violence. (Community Resident, Rural Ville)

Participants described a broad range of behaviors which they identified as "abusive." These behaviours included physical, psychological, economic, verbal, and racist abuse. However, they linked woman abuse to its location in the private domestic sphere where any public involvement is discouraged. The theme of community denial was dominant in focus group discussions in both research sites.

Fear. Physical, verbal abuse, neglect, scorn. Non-support. Battering and beating. Denial. Women are fair game. Isolation due to gossip. Secrecy. People not wanting their neighbours to know. Emotional, sexual, physical abuse. Hidden and all-pervasive. Private business. People look the other way. (Community Resident, Rural Ville)

The use of intimidation and control was underscored by respondents as another key form of abuse. In many cases, this resulted in stalking by the abusive partner. In some cases, the abusive partner would threaten suicide as a way of deterring the woman from leaving the relationship. As this participant noted:

Sometimes it is fear of threatened consequences. Ongoing dominating behavior. "If you don't do what I say, I will take the kids away. I will make sure you have no money. I will make sure something bad happens to you." "You will have no friends." "I will kill myself." (Community Resident, Rural Ville)

Some participants suggested that meanings of abuse are mediated by age group with younger people perceived as being more aware of abuse than older people.

Learning and Talking about Woman Abuse

In discussing community acknowledgment of woman abuse, participants noted that while an academic discussion of the issue was generally accepted, common talk about abuse was limited. Many said that there was a general denial of the problem, whereas other participants suggested that woman abuse was more prevalent in cities than in rural areas.

The ensuing discussion focussed on how living in small communities influences perceptions of violence. One participant noted that in a community where people are transient, it is difficult to develop relationships with neighbours and consequently determine whether woman abuse is occurring. However, as another participant pointed out, knowledge of one's neighbours and community does not necessarily mean that intervention will occur in abusive relationships.

… a lot of people are aware of what's going on and do nothing because you know the families, you know what's going on, you know the history and everybody sits back and does nothing. … Sometimes in a small community she's less likely to go and get help because if she's well connected within the community, the fear that her spouse will find her easily, that people will tell where she is, have seen her, things like that. She doesn't have the safety factor. (Community Resident, Rural Ville)

2. LEVELS OF WOMAN ABUSE IN THE COMMUNITIES

Responses to the question of whether or not woman abuse has increased, decreased, or remained the same cohered around a number of common themes. Most individuals were unsure as to whether they could offer a concrete comparative answer with respect to the prevalence of violence in the past, but offered answers based on what they perceived to be critical factors in understanding woman abuse. Common factors discussed were the growing awareness of abuse within communities and the increasing social stress on individuals and families in coping with contemporary socio-economic conditions.

Visibility and Awareness

Participants noted increasing public awareness and recognition of woman abuse. In addition, they mentioned higher rates of reporting abuse.

I think it's hard to determine whether there has been an increase or decrease. I think like what was said, our awareness has increased so much that I think that there are more avenues for reporting so it's hard to know whether there is an increase or maybe there's been a decrease and there's just more reporting. (Community Resident, Country Town)

The conceptualization of abusive behavior has changed, as one participant pointed out, making it more difficult to ignore behavior which was once deemed acceptable in society, but is now no longer considered acceptable.

I think that there is more violence. I think there's a lot more frustration with the circumstances of life today than there was 50 or 100 years ago. I don't know if there's more violence than there was 20 years ago. What goes along with that, of course, is what was acceptable 100 years ago isn't acceptable now. You know, you cuff your kid or you cuff your wife or whatever, that was acceptable and in a lot of cases in those times it wasn't called abuse. (Community Resident, Country Town)

Another participant indicated the necessity of awareness and resources such as transition houses in combating violence, noting that it is now more openly discussed because of these initiatives. One of the participant mentioned that abusive relationships can span entire lifetimes, and that they are not always recognized. Successful public interventions such as policing responses are crucial to an ongoing campaign against abuse.

3. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO WOMAN ABUSE

Participants attributed the root causes of woman abuse to economics, power/patriarchal institutions and values, and interpersonal or relationship dysfunction. In particular, the increasing level of poverty was cited as a major contributing factor to woman abuse. This combined with patriarchal values, changing gender roles and expectations, were seen as significant causes of woman abuse in rural areas. Aside from these factors, many focus group participants forwarded psychological explanations of woman abuse, defining the issue in terms of dysfunctional relationships and low self-esteem.

Economics

Economic problems were highlighted as major contributing factors to woman abuse and as one of the reasons why women do not leave abusive relationships. Women who are economically dependent on their partners and concerned for their children's welfare may decide to remain in abusive situations.

I just wanted to say one of my big frustrations is women who know that if they leave, they won't be able to afford to have their kids have hot dogs on hot dog day. They won't be able to go to the pool and they'll have to give up their music lessons, they'll have to give up their hockey, they'll have to give up so many things that I know of women who will stay and be abused so that they can, in their mind, give their children the life that they think their children need. It's very hard to step into the welfare system, an extremely frightening experience from the line-ups to the way one's treated. (Community Resident, Country Town)

Another theme that was suggested was frustration experienced by men who cannot provide economically or who suffer low self-esteem and unemployment in the face of reduced job availability and other social stresses.

… I think it's low self-esteem of men that causes the abuse in that we're sold this bill of goods that everyone's going to have a job and the television tells us this is what we should attain materially, etc. And we can't live up to that … (Community Resident, Country Town)

Power/Patriarchal Society

Participants noted the patriarchal institutions, values and attitudes that legitimize woman abuse. Gender roles, women's subordinate status, economic inequality, the lack of supports for women and men, and male dominance were all cited as factors. When considered alongside the systemic inequality dealt to women who do step out of abusive relationships, one man noted that leaving an abusive relationship sometimes opens women up to different forms of abuse.

When you think of it, somebody's going to step out from patriarchal abuse and they step out into patriarchal society, there's a patriarchal welfare system, and patriarchal justice system and all that stuff and they are societally abused, insulted, demeaned, diminished, humiliated and what's worse? You jump from the frying pan to the fire. (Community Resident, Country Town)

Participants highlighted the connections between woman abuse and traditional patterns of socialization. Referring specifically to rural areas, one participant stated:

… there is an awful lot of peer pressure about traditional male/female roles that come from a resource-based community. It goes beyond adults. It is in prepubescent children. The male is dominant. The woman should be submissive. There is an attitude that the male is the hunter-gatherer and the woman is the nurturer. (Community Resident, Rural Ville)

Interpersonal or Relationship Dysfunction

One common theme interwoven in participant responses dealt with the issue of woman abuse as resulting from dysfunctional relationships which were seen to be characterized by low self-esteem, co-dependency, isolation, and faulty communication between partners. Some participants attributed this to the strong societal pressure on couples to stay together despite difficulties and to "make" the relationship work. Others attributed woman abuse to the increasing alienation that men experience as a result of changing gender roles, rapid population growth, the lack of intimacy and connectedness to community. As this participant stated:

I also think that some violence occurs because people don't know how to be in a relationship with people, they don't know how to have community with people, they don't know how to have intimacy with people, and in their desperation, in their isolation, the only real intimacy they feel is after the violence has occurred. The sort of cathartic letting go and the apologies and the consoling is a sense of actual intimacy … (Community Resident, Country Town)

4. FACTORS UNIQUE TO A RURAL SETTING

Lack of anonymity and confidentiality, not having a safe place to go, and resistance from the community to get involved in what is seen as a private problem were all cited by participants as having a greater impact in rural areas or small towns than in urban areas. All of these factors were seen as silencing women and forcing them to remain in potentially dangerous relationships. As well, given the small size of these communities, when women do leave, it is relatively easy for their abusers to find them.

Sometimes in a small community she's less likely to go and get help because if she's well-connected within the community, the fear that her spouse will find her easily, that people will tell where she is, have seen her, things like that. She doesn't have the safety factor. But sometimes you can disappear in a bigger city and you have more resources and more choices. (Community Resident, Country Town)

Isolation

Isolation was recognized as a key factor in abusive situations. This was often articulated as physical or geographic isolation where women are located far from neighbours or services. In addition, isolation was also seen as resulting from the lack of communication networks (e.g., telephone) and the abusive partner's control of these.

Isolation of women and children. I know of a woman who had a partner who used to take the phone with him to work so that she was stuck at home with preschoolers. No phone and too far from town to walk and if she had been caught in town, that wouldn't have been ok, either. (Community Resident, Rural Ville)

Participants from one research site also noted the presence of cultural isolation which they defined as being particularly applicable to the Francophone population. Francophone women were seen as being more isolated because of the lack of services in French.

In defining isolation, participants also spoke of a lack of a sense of community especially for those people who lived in the area and traveled to the city to work. A shifting and relatively transient population was cited as causing feelings of alienation for those new to the community.

Participants mentioned that for women living with violence in rural areas, isolation can have a detrimental effect. The lack of services and assistance was cited as a major barrier. As well, fear of spousal reprisal and the inability to hide from an abusive spouse were identified as significant factors. The close-knit nature of the community was seen as exerting pressure on women to remain silent about the abuse.

Denial

Participants indicated that woman abuse is still a taboo subject, despite the heightened publicity and education. One participant attributed this to strong attitudes and reluctance to get involved in "family disputes."

A lot of members of families on both sides of the partnership know that it is going on. There is a complete denial. You have an extended family community that simply closes ranks. (Community Resident, Rural Ville)

Stereotyping

Several participants mentioned the social stigma resulting from the stereotypes of women survivors that are prevalent in their communities. They noted that this serves as a deterrent to women who are wanting to leave abusive relationships. As one of them put it:

And woman who are abused are looked down upon. "What' the matter with her that she would take that? What's the matter with her that she would stay in that? … Again, I guess blaming her in a way. And then to become that woman and to say, "Well, that's what everyone's going to think about me." it would be easier to just not tell. And then there's the other thing of people not really believing, people wanting to downplay it because they really like the spouse, he's an all around, really nice guy in the community. (Community Resident, Country Town)

Participants identified several other reasons to why women would be reluctant to disclose experiences of abuse in rural areas.

Shame/Guilt/Public Censure

The most predominant theme centered on issues of public censure/shame and woman blaming. Participants mentioned that a woman's public reputation could be ruined, or that she would not be believed, or that her affection for her abuser and would be pathologized, if she were to reveal the abuse. One participant was concerned that women would not tell of their abuse for fear of being stigmatized as women who "looked for" or somehow sought abusive relationships:

I think there's also the stigma too about the patterns. That maybe I left my first husband and you tend to go to the same kind of person and so then in the second relationship which perhaps is abusive. … There is a stigma to repeatedly fleeing the situation … (Community Resident, Country Town)

In one research site, the situation of military wives was discussed because of the often shifting positions of women on military bases. Also, some participants mentioned that women whose husbands were in the military were afraid that their disclosures will directly harm their husband's career advancement.

The participants in the Rural Ville focus group summarized the multiplicity of concerns facing women considering public disclosure:

Shame. She may not understand why she allows it to happen. Fear of judgment. Unsure of possible support in the community. Guilt. Loss of financial security. Fear of reprisal. Low self-esteem. I deserved it. Lack of clear, truthful, reliable support. Blames herself when she shouldn't. Feelings of failure. Afraid of not being understood, heard and supported. Fear that he'll find out. Lack of resources. Few economic options. … Need for privacy. Problems of children having to leave schools. Mutual friends go to his side. Fear that there will be worse to come. Fear of being independent. Fear of losing the good in the relationship. (Community Resident, Rural Ville)

Participants pointed out that there is never a certainty of how people, even family, will react. Women fear reaching out only to be rejected, or to be told that they are at fault for the abuse.

Inadequate and Inconsistent Service

Lack of concrete, reliable, consistent, and accessible resources and services for women emerged, yet again, as a common concern. Participants noted that lack of services or unreliable services contributes to women's insecurity about the community and social systems' ability to protect them. One participant termed the current system "Service Interruptus." Another referred specifically to the lack of police response as having a direct impact on the safety of women. As she stated:

… that is a lack of consistency in police response to various areas where women have been … for instance, when you get into the issue of harassment and stalking, I find the police very unhelpful. I have women who report again and again and say, "We want you to do something." I haven't gotten an answer from the police. … I went through one where no one in this detachment knew that the order existed, even the officer who was in charge of the file didn't know it was there. It was a breach and I have yet been able to get an answer. … I am very distressed by this because if people come in and say, "Let's turn to the law to get an order to protect me," and we have police who aren't going to act on them, then I am giving those women a false idea that they are going to be protected..(Community Resident, Rural Ville)

Lack of Anonymity and Confidentiality

In addition, participants cited the lack of anonymity and confidentiality in rural areas. Similarly, the small size of the communities was mentioned again as a significant barrier to women who are attempting to leave an abusive relationship. As this participant noted:

I think the lack of anonymity is a big one in small communities. Being able to be safe once the word is out. To go for help and have it come back. Confidentiality, even those in positions who swear that they'll be confidential, in small towns, boy, do things deteriorate quickly over a coffee. The chatter group. The reality is, the smaller the town, the scarier it is that way. (Community Resident, Country Town)

Lack of a Coordinated Approach

Several participants from both focus groups identified the need for a coordinated approach stating that the lack of coordination results in women not having the necessary support to permanently leave the abusive relationship.

Sometimes things can either overlap or be contradictory. Women and men who fall through the cracks and are less likely to come forward. If I am in danger, I am leaving the only security I know. If I am not absolutely convinced that there are resources that are going to stand by me, hold me up and make sure that I can get up on my feet and be empowered and be on my way, I am not going to say anything. When I slip through the cracks, I go back and get a worse beating. (Community Resident, Rural Ville)

Discrediting the Marginalized Ethnic and Religious Communities

Participants noted that there were few services available to meet the needs of marginalized women in abusive relationships. Existing services were identified as being scarce and inadequate. Fear of affecting the abuser's career was seen as deterring women from disclosing the abuse. Moreover, fear of reinforcing the dominant group's stereotypes, possibly leading to further racism and discrimination toward the minority group, also served to effectively silence abused women from racialized minority groups.

I think also if you're a small minority worried about your status of that minority within the general population, you may not want to have it known because you're afraid of discrediting that minority. (Community Resident, Country Town)

Safety Issues

When participants were asked where an abused woman could seek safety, their immediate response was, first, a transition house and, second the rape crisis centre or the women's centre. However, aside from these, participants noted the general lack of safe places that women could go to for immediate support and services. The transition house seemed to be the first and only place of resort.

… we'll refer you to the transition house because if it's a question of safety … we'll talk the person into going to the transition house first because it's 24-hours. (Community Resident, Country Town)

The suitability of programs currently available through the workplace (such as the Employee Assistance Program which provides Union counsellors for women to seek advice and safety) brought a generally negative appraisal from the group. However, one participant felt that if these programs were properly set up they could be a useful resource for abused women.

Lack of Community Support

One participant felt that the apathy of the community was such that even if it was known that the situation was potentially dangerous, there was a reluctance to become involved.

I have seen many, many situations where … everybody agrees that the guy is going off his nut and is going to do something, but no one steps in. Everybody just comments on it and waits until there has to be police intervention. (Community Resident, Rural Ville)

Similar examples were cited by many other participants, and most of these dealt with stalking and other forms of criminal harassment. The community's stance of non-intervention was seen as discouraging women from leaving abusive relationship.

5. SUGGESTIONS FOR WOMEN SURVIVORS

When queried as to what actions the participants might take if a woman talked to them about her abuse, most felt that it was very important to encourage the woman to do what she felt was best. Other participants indicated that they would also provide some practical advice about developing a safety plan that would enable the woman to leave the abusive situation. Legal advice was deemed as being particularly relevant by some participants as a way of securing residency rights to the home. Participants in the Rural Ville focus group summarized their suggestions as follows:

Make a safety plan. Have a support person. Call the transition house if you want shelter. Protect your children. Provide information about the transition house and counselling services.. Keep talking to other women who have had similar experiences. They know what works and what doesn't. Move to a safe place. Tell the cops. Talk to people who can help. … Let her talk about it if she needs to or wants to. Encourage her to seek help. Be a friend. … Prepare money, documents, medicines. Prepare to leave. Involve a trusted friend. Stay away from mutual friends. Discuss legal options with the community society, transition house or crisis line. (Community Residents, Rural Ville)

6. SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING COMMUNITY RESPONSE

Participants were asked how their communities could best prevent and respond to woman abuse. Participants provided a variety of answers. They suggested that first step towards prevention and response is acknowledgment of the problem.

To want help, we have to recognize that we are sick. We have to stand up and say that there is violence and abuse at all levels of society and we are not going to tolerate it anymore. If you want to stimulate people, there has to be a recognition that there is something wrong. There are too many people who would like to gloss over and make the Band-Aid responses and say that there isn't anything really wrong. (Community Residents, Rural Ville)

Based on that recognition, subsequent steps that were identified involved increasing public awareness, changing gender roles through socialization, emphasizing more peaceful modes of conflict resolution, ensuring anti-violence education, and creating a more equitable society. Participants also stressed the need for community ownership of the issue.

And I think that if you really want to deal with the issue on a meaningful level, the message has to get out and we all have to recognize that we have personal responsibilities, each individual in society, not just to find institutions to deal with it because institutions deal with things usually in institutional ways and certainly institutions deal with the threshold event that is a certain height. Whereas individuals can relate at all kinds of levels, from the lowest sort of derogatory remarks to gross affronts to decency. We need to have individuals who take the responsibility to be the kind of open and listening and nonjudgmental people that others who need someone to talk to, can talk to in a safe place outside of institutions. (Community Resident, Country Town)

Some participants saw a clear need for a more proactive approach that would send a strong message that the community would not tolerate violence against women. This would include conducting safety audits, enforcing legal sanctions against abusers, reporting woman abuse to police, creating mandatory programs for men, and addressing the issue of violence within a larger economic and social context.

Specific actions that the community could take immediately included organizing a coordinated approach to public awareness events such as the "Take Back the Night", "December 6th, " "Men's Walk Against Violence," and "Can't Stop Violence with Silence" events. One participant mentioned the Mothers Against Drunk Driving program noting its success and suggested that other proactive strategies dealing with violence use it as a model.

Various participants stressed the need to implement anti-violence and self-esteem programs in schools.

Pay attention to our kids and the effects of violence on them. If we don't pay attention, we are not going to have a realignment. We are going to have children growing into adults who are so damaged and so dysfunctional, they won't be able to learn how to be in good relationships. I fear that. … If we don't reach out to them, they aren't going to be salvageable. (Community Resident, Rural Ville)

A program of community accountability following a restorative justice approach currently operational in one of the research sites was considered as a possible appropriate alternative response for dealing with violence against women in relationships by the community. However, other participants argued for a more stringent approach to dealing with abusers. They emphasized the need to communicate a clear message about violence as a crime.

Churches too were seen to have a possible positive role in responding to and preventing woman abuse.

… for the churches to deal with that consciously because they do have that possibility for being the sources of the problem and they also have the possibility of being such incredible sources of dealing with the problem. (Community Resident, Country Town)

Final comments were directed at the need to provide culturally specific services for abused women from minority groups, and the necessity to procure male allies in campaigns against woman abuse. One participant felt that just providing services that would be accessible for abused women from diverse cultural backgrounds was not sufficient to ensure that they would get the help they needed. It was necessary also to develop ways of combating racism against these groups.

One other thing that goes along with that whole thing then is programs on racism that need to be addressed as well. (Community Resident, Country Town)

Participants emphasized that there was also a need to encourage the involvement of men in ending woman abuse.

We need men to be helping men who are violent offenders. We need men to be strong and be involved in that process. (Community Resident, Rural Ville)

It was suggested that the reason supportive men were not becoming actively involved in this struggle was because they did not see violence against women as their issue.

I think because it is seen as a woman's issue, they would think they were setting themselves up in competition. If they were involved in a community-based organization, then there would be room for the male aspect. (Community Resident, Rural Ville)

However, other participants pointed out that violence should be framed as a community issue, and that men should begin to organize their own self-help groups and work collectively to deter other men from engaging in violent behaviour.