Wwos module 2 october 2014

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE:

Understanding and Supporting women

who experience Violence

Walking with Our Sisters: A Project of the Vancouver Island North

Women’s Resource Society, Campbell River, BC

Project Funding Provided By

The Women’s Program

Module Two:Effects of Intimate Partner Violence

against Women on Society, The Community, The Family, and

The Individual Woman This is Module 2 of a three part online learning course designed for personnel who work in community social

service agencies, health and medical services, government public services, and charitable agencies.

Women who have experienced gender based

violence may need to access these services.

Learning Objectives for Module 2:

• To understand the extensive and complex nature of gender based violence on the societal, community, and personal level

• To recognize how gender based violence can cause loss of productivity and effect economic contribution to the community

• To recognize how intimate partner violence drains resources in the legal, law enforcement , health care, and social services systems

• To understand the enduring impacts of violence on a women’s physical and emotional well being

Please note that the information contained in this module reflects a careful literature review, as well as information obtained

from women in a focus group, individual interviews, and surveys. No identifying

information is contained in this material. A further important note is that every

woman’s experience is unique; therefore, we want to stress that not every woman

will have the same reactions or impacts of Intimate Partner Violence, “IPV”

The Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Society

• Economic costs of IPV• Effects on Canada’s Legal/Justice Systems• Effects on Canada’s Health-Care System• Effects on Youth• Effects on Culture

What is Intimate Partner Violence?

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious, preventable public health problem that affects millions of North Americans.

The term "intimate partner violence" describes physical, sexual, or psychological harm by a current or former partner or spouse.

Economic Impact of IPV:

The total economic impact of spousal violence in Canada in 2009 was estimated at $7.4 Billion. This is considered a conservative estimate.

$7.4 BILLION

Economic Breakdown

Cost to Society• The cost of IPV goes beyond just a monetary

figure although this is significant. This is not just a ‘feminist problem’, the cost of IPV is something that we all need to be aware of as it negatively affects us all.

• As listed in the previous slide these costs come from the Justice System, Health-Care System, Social Services, Mental Health Services, and loss of involvement in societies’ economic systems.

Justice System• The estimated costs of IPV on the Canadian Justice

system is half a billion dollars a year• This includes criminal charges, court costs, civil

cases, child custody hearings, and the cost of RCMP responding to, and investigating cases of IPV.

• Currently the province only spends $70 million a year on anti violence measures such as court reforms and Police Domestic Violence Units.

Justice Moving Forward

• At a time when domestic violence is a major concern in BC, some domestic violence units in police forces in cities such as Victoria are being reduced due to cost cutting. This can put additional pressure on local social services, and community programs.

• Earlier this year the BC government was called upon to create dedicated domestic violence courts. In the long run this may decrease the cost and burdens of IPV on our Justice System.

Health Care System The estimated $7.4 billion spent on IPV in Canada mentioned earlier seems low, particularly when the Federal Health Minister has stated that IPV cost the Canadian Health Care Sector nearly $6 billion dollars alone

A major portion of health care costs, both emergency and long term physical and mental health care, are still bourn by the victims of IPV

Medical professions can and do play a vital role in helping victims of IPV, they

assist by “recognizing the signs, reporting violence, and ensuring patients get the physical and mental support that they

need”

Federal Minister of Health

IPV and its effect on Youth and Culture

• In recent years there has been an increase in intimate partner violence in teenage relationships.

• Studies also show that internet pornography, and the ease with which it can be accessed by teenage boys, can decrease their sensitivity to violence towards women, in effect they begin to see this as a norm in relationships.

IPV Cost to Our Community

• IPV puts a drain on community resources such as community based victim services, food banks, and women’s services.– There can be increased access to such services by

women experiencing IPV who otherwise would not need to use such services.

– If they had the economic means to successfully transition away from such a relationship, then it would reduce the need for these services.

IPV Cost to Our Community

• Increased drug and alcohol use in communities with high incidents of IPV.– Many (but not all) perpetrators of IPV also abuse

drugs or alcohol– Some victims of IPV also abuse drugs and alcohol

as a way to cope with the violence or manage the pain.

IPV Cost to Our Community

• Missed Work days, the inability to take part in our economic market, and lost educational opportunities.– These are all problems that may be faced by the

victims of IPV, and in turn may decrease the overall productivity and health of the community in which we live.

– Cost to employers and businesses is over $70,000,000 in Canada a year.

– Productivity loses for victims of IPV are over $50,000,000 a year

Social Determinants of Health

• The social determinants of health are the economic and social conditions – and their distribution among the population – that influence individual and group differences in health status.

• The primary factors that shape the health of Canadians are not medical treatments or lifestyle choices but rather the living conditions they experience.

Social determinants

of Health

Availability of social services

Employment and Working

Conditions

Income and Wealth

Distribution

Quality of Food and Housing

Access to Quality Health Care

Ability to Obtain Quality Education

What Are The Social Determinants of Health

IPV and its Effects on Those That Experience It

• The effects of IPV on the women that experience it can go far beyond the physical and emotional scars left behind.

• IPV can affect a woman’s socio-economic standing, her relationship with family and friends, her mental and physical health, as well as, her spiritual wellbeing.

IPV and its Effects on Those That Experience It

• The long term effects of IPV on women can include depression, stress, anxiety, dependence on drugs and alcohol, long term physical pain caused by injuries, and increased continual fear for themselves and their children.

The Impacts of IPV: Vicious Cycle

• The effects of IPV can play a significant role in all areas of life and wellbeing. For example chronic pain may lead to addiction, or an inability to work leading to economic hardships. In fact the impacts of IPV are all connected.

Physical

Mental

Emotional

Social/Family

Economic

Physical Effects of IPV

• The physical effects of IPV go beyond the bruises and broken bones that can result from physical violence.

• Living with the fear and stress of IPV can have a severe impact a woman’s wellbeing:

• Chronic Fatigue/fibromyalgia• Chronic pain• Headaches/migraines• Miscarriages• Sleep disorders• Weight gain/loss• Health problems associated with drug/alcohol use

IPV and Mental and Emotional Health

• Exposure to IPV can have profound and long lasting effects of the mental and emotional health of those who experience it

• Abusive relationships can deprive women of their personal voice, their dignity, and their freedom of choice.

• There is often a decline in self-confidence that results from constant negative and distorted messages, this leads to a loss in their sense of worth.

• The mental and emotional impacts can include:- Complex PTSD - feelings of confusion and hopelessness- Anxiety- Depression- Suicidal thoughts- Anger- Increased risk of addictions- Complications of pre existing mental illnesses

Mental Health and IPV

• If a woman is already living with a mental illness then this can be used against her. For example: the abuser can convince her that the violence is due to her own sickness, or that it is, “all in her head.”

• Medication for mental illness can also be used to manipulate those living with IPV: Maybe the abuser insists that she take medication that will make her more compliant, or he could withhold medication from her in order to gain control over her health and wellbeing.

One of the most disturbing facts regarding prolonged IPV is that neurobiological studies have shown that

living with the prolonged stress and trauma of IPV can cause changes in neural pathways and availability of

neurotransmitters in the brain. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Major Depressive

Disorder, and Anxiety Disorders are just a few of the mental illnesses that can develop

subsequent to the abuse.

It Can Make Her Feel Crazy

• A woman living with IPV may have experienced so much emotional manipulation that she can have trouble trusting her own thoughts and beliefs, her own interpretation of events, her own memories.

• The abuser may have told her repeatedly that she was wrong, at fault, and even crazy.

• He may have other family members convinced that it is her fault, that she is the instigator, that she is to blame.

It Can Make Her Feel Crazy

• The abuser may seem to be a well-liked, rational person to others, with a public persona quite different to the reality in private.

• This can lead to blaming oneself or an inability to “believe” what is happening when he acts abusive toward her in private. How could this guy whom other people like be so mean?

IPV and the Link to Substance Abuse: Why its Worth Repeating

In some cases IPV can lead to drug and alcohol abuse. This can be for several reasons.• Chronic physical pain or mental illness can lead to

dependency or attempts to self medicate.• Some women use drugs and alcohol as a way of coping with

their situation, in order to numb themselves.• Some abusers keep their partners hooked on substances, in

order to maintain control, and in order to blame her for his behavior after using.

• If she gets clean it can be perceived as threat to him; it can make him look bad and threatens his sense of control.

The Socio-Economic Impacts of IPV

• The hallmarks of an abusive relationship are maintaining power and control:– One such tactic is isolation; a woman can become

isolated from family and friends and so she loses her social support network.

– If a women is economically dependent on a controlling partner leaving can and often does force her into poverty.

Personal growth on-hold

• This means that many women do not seek education or satisfying employment, or follow their interests and dreams.

• They may not put a priority on her own health.

• A woman may come to believe she does not deserve a better life.

The Socio-Economic Impacts of IPV

• Women who are subjected to IPV typically have a greater number of lost workdays, lower productivity, and lower income. Overall they also have reduced or lost education, employment opportunities, social opportunities, and political participation opportunities.

• You cannot put a price on the loss of women’s, and their children’s, possibility! What might they have been able to accomplish or contribute to society, not just in Canada, but globally, if it were not for intimate partner violence?

The Socio-Economic Impacts of IPV

• The hallmarks of an abusive relationship are maintaing power and control:– One such tactic is isolation; a woman can become

isolated from family and friends and so she loses her social support network.

– If a women is economically dependent on a controlling partner leaving can and often does force her into poverty.

The Personal Economic Cost of IPV

• Survivors of IPV, those who successfully escape the violence often leave with literally nothing.

• This can mean a significant loss of assets, such the home, furniture, personal property (including basics such as clothing). They may be forced to start all over again

• If they have joint bank accounts he may empty them as punishment for leaving, like wise if they have joint bills, if these are left unpaid it may damage her credit rating and her ability to get utilities in future.

Please Consider These Questions:

Would You be willing to leave everything behind to start over with nothing?

Now do you understand some of the reasons why women may choose to stay OR why life may not be immediately better for women when they leave?

IPV is Not Limited by Socio-Economic Levels

IPV is common throughout all levels of society, whether rich or poor. It is often easier to keep the violence hidden when a person has a higher socio-economic standing, but it happens nonetheless. There is no evidence to support the idea that uneducated or poor people are more likely to abuse their wives or partners. However, it may sometimes seems that way as those victims that come from the lower socio-economic levels of society are far more likely to need to seek services and support such as transition houses, and income assistance.

Remember the Overlapping Impacts of IPV

• When the accumulated effects of abuse combine, then problems in all areas of life can become an overwhelming downward experience.

• For example: Depression, and other mental health challenges, can lead to a loss in the ability to participate in the workforce, which leads to poverty. And the loss of income is likely to feed the depression.

• The ability to focus mentally can decline making dealing with work, school, service agencies, and the legal system more difficult potentially creating frustration and a greater sense of hopelessness.

Effects of IPV on the Family

• IPV plays a significant role in the breakdown of family and can have a lifelong effect on the women and children who experience it.

• Gender based violence often leads to isolation of the victims from their families and friends, this can be due to the abuser preventing them from associating with them as part of his control, the victim’s shame of the situation, because the victim believes the abuser can change and they resent family interference, or because the abuse has led to a dependence on drugs and alcohol on the part of the victim.

Effects of IPV on the Family

• Women fleeing IPV may have to cut ties with family (Particularly the abusers family members) when they leave the abuser. This can lead to separation between children and their grandparents, and other extended family members.

• All of these factors can result in the woman having difficulty interacting with both her children and extended family.

IPV and its Effect Upon Motherhood

• One of the roles a woman may find significantly altered, or lost altogether, is her role as mother.– Abuse of a mother often presents disruption of

child-development, confusion, and insecurity for her children.

– Women are sometimes distanced from their children through limitations induced by poverty, by legal conditions, by ill health due to abuse, and other difficulties.

IPV and its Effect on Childhood

• Witnessing IPV can have a profound and potentially life-long impression on children, this can impact them in many aspects of their lives.

• Children who have been subjected to violence (they do not have to actually witness the abuse) can also exhibit continued negative effects, including learning delays and interrupted brain development, difficulty in school, isolation from peers, lack of empathy, destructive behaviours, and a continuation of the cycle of violence when they enter their own relationships. They are also at increased risk of anxiety, depression, self harming, and low self esteem.

IPV and its Effects on Childhood

Studies have shown that extended exposure to domestic violence can actually alter brain

development and chemistry in children. In fact children exposed to domestic violence can show the

same pattern of brain activity as combat soldiers. Long term abuse may lead to their brains being hyper alert

in a constant state of “flight or fight”

Intimate partner violence is a problem that is not isolated to the personal or family level. IPV effects us all, it is impossible to know just how much it costs us as a society. However, it is also important to remember the individual in all of

this. Each family is unique and so when providing services they need to be treated as an

individual and not a statistic.

Summary

Credits for this Project

Principle Author and Investigator: Georgette Whitehead, MSW, RCC, RSW

Contributors & Reviewers:

Jodi Grundle, MSc, Contributor

Eileen Stearns, BSW, RSW, Contributor, researcher

Marnie MacLachlan, Reviewer

Graphic Facilitation Art by Jill Banting. MA

Informed by a focus group of experiential women

A full list of references is available on our website

END OFMODULE PLEASE RETURN TO THE MAIN

COURSE PAGE