Women's Equality Branch
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All Issues | 2014 Issues

WOMEN FEMMES NB

IN THIS ISSUE:

• GENDER EQUALITY SCHOLARSHIPS
• NOTICES
• DID YOU KNOW?
• MANAGING THE IMPACTS OF FRONT-LINE WORK, PART I:  BURNOUT, COMPASSION FATIGUE AND VICARIOUS TRAUMA
• ENHANCING CIVIL PROTECTION IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES: CROSS CANADA CHECKUP (2015)
• MONCTON SCHOOL WASHROOMS ACCOMMODATE TRANSGENDER STUDENTS
• AFRICA HAS A LONG WAY TO GO TO GET MORE WOMEN INTO THE SCIENCES  ______________________________________________________________________________

GENDER EQUALITY SCHOLARSHIPS

The Scholarship Program is intended to encourage and support women and men pursuing a non-traditional career at a New Brunswick college.

Any occupation in which women or men make up less than 25% of the total workforce is considered "non-traditional".

For more information or to apply, please visit: http://bit.ly/1JD2QSZ

NOTICES

Please note: The Women’s Equality Branch will be publishing one issue of Women Femmes NB newsletter for the month of July and one for the month of August. They will be published on July 8 and August 5. To submit articles or notices please follow the usual guidelines (submissions must be received by 12 pm the Friday before its publishing date).

A day of reflection: the Gendered Lens of Abuse of Older Adults – Thursday June 25, 10 am to 4 pm at Université de Moncton, Jacqueline-Bouchard Building (51 Antonine-Maillet Avenue), Moncton, NB. Keynote Speaker: Lori Weeks, PhD "Recent Research on the Abuse of Older Adults". Panel Discussion: "The Many Faces of Abuse and Neglect of Older Adults". Cost: $25 (includes lunch and parking). Register online: http://bit.ly/1KPYiao or contact Rina Arseneault by email at [email protected] or phone: (506) 458-7137 or: Danie Gagnon by email at [email protected] or phone (506) 460-6266 for more information.

Pan-Canadian Projects: New Horizons for Seniors Funding Program is now open until July 10. Pan-Canadian projects that help to reduce social isolation among seniors may be funded between $150,000 and $750,000, for up to a maximum of three years. Funding is now open until July 10 and can provide support for projects that clearly identify their contribution to a collective approach to measurably reduce the rate of social isolation among seniors in a target population. For more information about the 2015 pan-Canadian Call for Proposals and how to apply, please visit: http://bit.ly/1KSXn94

2nd Annual Simms Home Hardware and Liberty Lane Washer Toss Championship and Charity BBQ in support of Liberty Lane Second Stage Shelter.  Saturday, June 27 – registration at 11 am. Games start at noon. Loyalist, Rugby Field, Cityview Ave, Fredericton.  1st place winners get free admission to the World Washer Toss Championships. 32 teams of two, $50 per team. Register and pay at Simms Home Hardware, 155 King Street, Fredericton or call 506-451-2120. Register and pay in full before June 19th and your team will be entered into a draw to win your registration fee back. Family friendly event! Children's washer toss tournament, no fee.

The second-annual New Brunswick Womyn’s Summit is an opportunity for womyn to come together to share our knowledge from the past and present, and to bring together a new vision for the future;  a future that embraces a sharing of our collective capacity for joy, healing, birthing, mothering, aging, and living holistically, in community with one another. The program will feature over 15 workshops taught by wise womyn teachers, community leaders, healers, birth-workers, and fellow-seekers.   Join us in paradise—Caissie Cape, New Brunswick—in a gorgeous yurt, as we live, love, play and learn together, for three magical days, July 17-19. For more information and to register: http://womynssummit.org/

What Saudi Women Can and Can’t Do. Women in Saudi Arabia are among the most oppressed in the world - the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report ranks Saudi Arabia 127th out of 136 countries for gender parity. But they have been making significant gains in the past couple of years, particularly under the late King Abdullah. Here, are listed some of the advances they have made, as well as some rights they continue to be denied: http://bit.ly/1e1mXxU  

FHRITP: CBC's The National looks at the offensive trend. The National host Peter Mansbridge spoke with a media panel including Marissa Nelson, CBC's senior director of digital media, Margo Goodhand, editor in chief of the Edmonton Journal, Robyn Doolittle, investigative reporter with Globe and Mail, and Jeet Heer, contributing editor at the New Republic, for their thoughts on the trend. Watch the: http://bit.ly/1Gxf3TK

Watch: 16×9’s “To Honour and Obey: Women and Girls Forced to Wed Against Their Will” http://bit.ly/1Hcgefa

New Brunswick Agencies, Boards and Commissions (ABCs): Qualified women and men having the highest personal and professional integrity are invited to serve on New Brunswick agencies, boards and commissions (ABCs).   Vacancy for appointment - New Brunswick Human Rights Commission, Commission Chairperson. The New Brunswick Human Rights Commission is a government agency that operates under the authority of the Human Rights Act.  The Commission and its staff investigate and conciliate formal complaints of discrimination filed under the Act. The Commission further works to prevent discrimination by promoting human rights and offering educational opportunities to employers, service providers and the general public. The Chairperson receives an annual stipend of $25,000 plus travel and meal expenses. To apply: New Brunswick Human Rights Commission. For more opportunities, check out the following link:  ABC Current Opportunities.

June is Stroke Awareness Month. For information about this medical emergency, including a video from the victim’s point of view, follow this link from the Heart and Stroke Foundation: http://bit.ly/1bdYfTk

Voices of New Brunswick Women Consensus-Building Forum – Contact Us: Sartain MacDonald Building, 551 King Street, Suite 103, Fredericton NB E3B 1E7, T. 506.462.5179, F. 506.462.5069, E. [email protected], www.voixfemmesnb-voiceswomennb.ca.

MANAGING THE IMPACTS OF FRONT-LINE WORK, PART I:  BURNOUT, COMPASSION FATIGUE AND VICARIOUS TRAUMA
- Fredericton Sexual Assault Crisis Centre

This is the first of a series of brief articles on how to manage the very real impacts of front-line work professionally and personally.

Social workers, police officers, nurses, volunteers, along with many other front-line service providers and caregivers are often entrusted with people’s painful stories of abuse, assault, violence, loss and trauma.  In response, the term “self-care” is casually tossed about as the definitive answer to the consequences of our work – often without any concrete strategies for integrating practical and effective self-care into our lives. Added to that, self-care is seen as indulgent and pampering, and can be met with “it must be nice” attitudes.

There is an ethical responsibility to confidentiality, compassion, empowerment and right to information along with a service provider’s ethical responsibility to make sure that they are doing well, so they can do their best for their client.  Organizations that employ caregivers should ensure that tools and resources are available and accessible for self-care.  Experience and research indicate that mistakes are made when caregivers are tired, stretched too thin, or pulled in too many directions. These mistakes can have a very human cost.

The three terms commonly used to define the consequences of front-line work – burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma are defined below.

Burnout is the physical and emotional exhaustion experienced from prolonged stress and frustration. It can result from a lack of support or being given too much to handle, therefore the ability to cope with work demands becomes depleted while feeling overwhelmed and hopeless as though efforts make no real impact.

Compassion fatigue is the erosion of one’s ability to feel compassion and empathize with others. The ability to tolerate strong feelings and listen to difficult stories is reduced, and service providers often feel they have nothing left to give.  Consequently, they may minimize the experience of others, or become judgmental of decisions and choices made by others.

Vicarious trauma is the transformation of one’s world view, sometimes described as the “loss of innocence”. Repeated exposure to traumatic stories, whether directly from survivors or through media or even debriefing with a co-worker, can alter how community, friends and family are perceived. Many of the signs and symptoms of vicarious trauma are similar to those a survivor may experience: fear, anger, exhaustion, behavioural changes, intrusive thoughts, etc.

Exposure to trauma – the difficult stories of people – can have a profound effect on the personal and professional lives of front-line service providers.  Recognizing and acknowledging the potential impact are the initial steps to taking care of the people who take of others.  

http://www.fsacc.ca/

http://on.fb.me/1K8c75w  

ENHANCING CIVIL PROTECTION IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES: CROSS CANADA CHECKUP (2015)

Written by Dr. Linda Neilson, this report offers options, informed by research evidence, to enhance civil protection in domestic violence cases throughout Canada. Legal-system research has been critical of the operation of civil protection proceedings in intimate-partner/domestic violence (DV) cases.

Yet within criticism lie opportunities for positive change. Careful attention to criticism can help to improve our responses to families and children. Thus, in a search for solutions, the report connects domestic-violence research, research on the operation of legal systems in domestic violence cases, and civil protection processes and options (case law and statutes) across Canada. It adopts a forward-focused, problem-solving approach.

Part One presents principles of practice associated with effective options derived from evaluations of the operation of the legal system in DV cases. Part Two connects the principles discussed in Part One to current civil protection options across Canada (domestic violence prevention statutes, restraining order legislation and legislation relating to possession of the marital home and personal property). Part Three identifies current gaps in Canadian legislation that, if addressed, could enhance the operation of the legal system in civil protection cases.

The goal is to support the work of professionals and service providers in domestic violence cases.

Dr. Linda Neilson, BA (Hons.), LL.B., PhD (Law, U. London, L.S.E.) is a Full Professor at University of New Brunswick. She has a lengthy association with the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research. Her recent works include, as sole author, an 18 chapter peer-reviewed, national electronic bench book for Canadian judges on family law & domestic violence (Ottawa: National Judicial Institute); Enhancing Safety (Ottawa: Department of Justice), an on-line manual in French & English on addressing problems when families confront multiple (family, child protection, criminal) legal systems; and “At Cliff's Edge: Judicial Dispute Resolution in Domestic Violence Cases” in Family Court Review 52(3): 529-563.

http://bit.ly/1HbdBuX
To read the full report: http://bit.ly/1L73nLU

MONCTON SCHOOL WASHROOMS ACCOMMODATE TRANSGENDER STUDENTS

École L'Odyssée has put up signs outside two small private washrooms at the Moncton school to accommodate transgender students and help promote inclusion.

The washrooms, which have been in the high school since it was built, can be used by anyone, but now have new signs that include an icon to represent transgender people.

The idea came from the student group INDIGO, the gay, lesbian, transgender alliance.

"It didn't come from necessarily from kids that were transgendered, but kids that felt that their friends or maybe other people would benefit from having gender neutral bathrooms, "said France Breault, who is the staff advisor to INDIGO and the school's social worker.

"We felt the need to just identify bathrooms that would be for anyone that maybe felt uncomfortable or maybe not safe in public bathrooms. So this would be a place where they could be, feel just safe. It's just for anybody."

The initiative was launched in May 12 to coincide with the International Day Against Homophobia.

Students were shown videos in class at that time to promote the washrooms.

"What I got, is just a positive reactions or no reaction at all … and that's the point," said Breault. "It's to get people just to — it's part of life, it's just something that, it's there, so why not just make sure that we include them."

The school has introduced new initiatives over the last number of years to promote inclusion. Last year, the school also added an inclusion flag.

http://bit.ly/1LyVU8i

AFRICA HAS A LONG WAY TO GO TO GET MORE WOMEN INTO THE SCIENCES

It’s still a man’s world in African science. The marginalisation of women in science is not unique, though, to the continent. It is a pattern around the globe. It has been estimated that, on average, only 30% of science roles throughout the world are held by women.

In the 114 years over which Nobel Prizes have been awarded, 47 women have received prizes, with 16 being honoured in what is termed the disciplinary areas of the awards (that is, not including literature and peace). Two of these prizes were in physics, five in chemistry, eight in physiology and medicine, and one in economics.

The Fields Medal, which is awarded to outstanding mathematicians under 40, has only once in the past 70 years been given to a woman, Maryam Mirzakhani, in 2014. The Abel Prize (instituted since 2003 for mathematicians) has never been won by a woman.

Representation of women in the sciences is even more dire in Africa. Reliable and recent data, beyond South Africa, is scant. This in itself is an indictment on the limited attention paid to women in the sciences.

Few and far between

The reasons for the poor representation of women in science in Africa are a mixture of the barriers women face all over the world, combined with some added complexities.

Continued:  http://bit.ly/1IbT0as

IN PARTING

“The true wealth of a community is measured by how carefully it listens to its women
and how sincerely it values their wisdom.  Empowering women empowers us all.”

-Forest Whitaker
Actor

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Women's Equality Branch | 551 King Street, Suite A | Fredericton, NB E3B 5H1