Home brutal home: the abuse of women by men is not new, but an open discussion about the issue and the search for a solution is

Aggression toward women starts with skimpily clad women in ads. According to a government report, such ads send out the message "that it is attractive, desirable, sexy, and right to possess women, who are almost invariably portrayed in conjunction with other glittery objects, or in some subordinate or diminished pose." The report, released in 1993, describes pornography as the worst example of viewing "woman - as - object," which results in "insult and injury to women and has profound linkages with...hatred and violence."

The same year, the Quebec Status of Women Council also released a 115 - page report called To Cease the Unacceptable: Violence Against Women. It appealed to the province to tackle the epidemic of violence at its roots, launching a vast campaign promoting equality of the sexes in schools, the workplace, and in the media.

Statistics Canada added some sobering figures; 20% of women said they had been assaulted in the 12 months before they were polled. About 18% of attacks were violent enough to cause physical injury. The finding that 51% of Canadian women have experienced violence since the age of 16 shocked many. The report also said that 29% of married or formerly married women had been assaulted by their husbands. Almost 60% who said they had been sexually assaulted were attacked more than once. Women with violent fathers - in - law were three times more likely to be assaulted than other women. Women were most likely to be assaulted by men they knew -- almost half (45%) said they had been assaulted by dates, boyfriends, husbands, friends, family members, or other men familiar to them.

Rich or poor, violence against women is reported more or less evenly across every group. One exception is that women aged 18 to 24 are more than twice as likely to report violence as older women - 27% in the younger group say they have been assaulted; 15% of married women say their husbands have attacked them.

Alcohol plays a huge part in violence: men had been drinking before more than 40% of attacks. Only 14% of the incidents are reported to police. Only in 9% do the women contact a social - service agency. About 22% of women who had been assaulted say they told no one about it.

The Statistics Canada survey also found that 39% of women in violent marriages say their children had witnessed an assault.

The violence affects thousands of Canadian lives. Another 1993 national survey found that more than 78,000 women and children are admitted to battered - women's shelters in Canada each year. Some shelters didn't answer the survey, so the admission figure is estimated to be closer to 100,000 a year. Also, only a small percentage of battered women seek help in shelters.

If more statistics were needed, the government came up with them in July 1993. That's when The Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women released its report, Changing the Landscape: Ending the Violence, Achieving Equality.

The 460 - page report links equality and violence against women. It says violence won't end until equality is achieved. It contains 494 recommendations for changing attitudes and actions in governments, police, courts, hospitals, businesses, unions, churches, communities, and individuals.

The task force also produced a kit to help local communities develop action plans to end violence and a video called Without Fear, which tells the story of six women who survived abuse.

The federal panel was appointed in 1991. Some critics felt the group would discover nothing other than the fact there is violence against women. They felt more research wasn't the answer to a well - known situation and that the money ($10 million) could have been better spent.

For many women, abuse from a partner starts early.

The Canadian Committee on Violence against Women found that one in five Canadian girls under 18 had been abused by a boyfriend. It can be verbal, psychological, and physical. Verbal abuse may not break bones but being called dumb, useless, or fat can hurt girls at a vulnerable age, eroding self - esteem.

Many young girls put up with it because they come from violent homes and tend to put themselves in similar situations as they grow up. One sociologist says "they find it a lot more difficult to get out of the violent pattern than kids who have never experienced it."

Most teen abuse cases are probably not reported to the police. In those that are successfully prosecuted, the abusive teenager usually receives therapy dealing with personal values, self - esteem, and the nature of male - female relationship.

Quebec's Youth Help and Prevention Centre and the City of Quebec's community health department prepared a video on the first stages of teen violence to show how jealousy and a need for control are at the root of abuse. It also describes ways of dealing with verbal or physical attacks -- discussing the problem with friends, for example, or issuing an ultimatum: either the abuse stops or I go.

Girls in abusive relationships should: talk about what's going on to family, friends, counsellors, and the boyfriend; call abuse hotlines, the police, or a women's shelter if necessary; take any threats of violence seriously and, if needed, obtain a peace bond through the police. Then, if he does something violent, he will be held in custody for at least 24 hours and listed in police records; if you have to leave a residence to escape a boyfriend be sure to take your purse (for money and ID), a change of clothes, and anything required for work or school. Don't return to fetch something forgotten without the police.

Beyond high school, it doesn't seem to get any better. A national survey of university students in 1993 showed that 81% of women questioned said they had been subjected to sexual, physical, or psychological abuse by a dating partner. And, 76% of men in the survey acknowledged having acted abusively toward a date.

Some of the questions dealt with psychological abuse that most considered minor, such as swearing, put - downs in front of family or friends, saying something to spite a partner, or threatening to hit or throw something at a partner. But 28.8% of women said they had been sexually abused within the past year and 22.4% reported incidents of physical abuse. Men were reluctant to acknowledge such behaviour but 11.3% admitted being sexually abusive and 13.1% acknowledged acts of physical violence.

And, while the figures are high, the authors of the report say they may not be high enough. "Many people do not report incidents because of fear of reprisal, embarrassment, or they perceive some acts as too trivial."

A common male response to stories of battered women is: "Why doesn't she just leave?" It isn't that simple. Many women are financially dependent on their abusive partner. Many will endure the pain rather than leave their children behind. And, many suffer from something known as battered - woman's syndrome. This is a condition in which the victim feels she has been made captive, and experiences both a fear of and a reliance on her victimizer, similar to that felt by some prisoners - of - war.

Escape from a violent relationship is very difficult for many women. For them and others, the best hope is greater public awareness of the problem andaction.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES:

1. One report says that psychological abuse such as swearing, put - downs, and threats to hit or throw things at a partner are considered minor problems by many. Do you agree or disagree? Discuss.

2. Invite someone from a women's shelter to talk to your class.

3. For further study: The video produced by the Canadian Panel on Violence Against Women along with a facilitator's guide are available for rent from any National Film Board Office; the kit on how to make your community safer (Catalogue SW45 - 4 - 1993 English or French; $19.95) and a booklet on how some have developed programs called Community Stories: Taking Action on Violence Against Women ($15.95) are available from The Canada Communications Group -- phone: (819) 956 - 4802; fax: (819) 994 - 1498. Or, they may be borrowed from any library that participates in the Federal Depository Services. Free information on violence in relationship is available from: The National Clearing House on Family Violence, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ont., K1A 1B4 -- 1 - (800) 267 - 1291; hearing impaired, 1 (800) 561 - 5643; fax: (613) 941 - 8930.

Figure not transcribed Consult original publication

FACT FILE

It's estimated that a sexual assault is committed in Canada every 17 minutes, and 90% of the victims are women. Half of the sexually assaulted women are under 17.

POWER AND CONTROL

Sexual harassment is often the first step in a process that ends in sexual assault. And, it starts early. A 1993 government report contains first - hand accounts of sexual harassment from 15 - and 16 - year - old girls.

The girls described annoying behaviour and offensive (sometimes threatening) language from some male students. They talked about how these can hurt their self - confidence and have a negative effect on their schoolwork; how they devise strategies, such as walking in pairs, or avoiding hallways, to reduce exposure to harassment.

Many of the students said they felt a lack of support from teachers to do anything about the harassing behaviour. Worse, many felt betrayed, discouraged, and angry when their teachers initiated or participated in harassing behaviour.

At the university level, graduate students are particularly vulnerable to sexual harassment because advisers often have almost complete power over their academic careers. One Canadian study showed that up to 75% of all female graduate students have been sexually harassed in university.

On to the work world, where nearly one in four Canadian women over 18 (2.4 million) have been sexually harassed on the job, according to a recent Statistics Canada study. The study confined itself to a narrow definition of sexual harassment. It asked only about men who made inappropriate comments about a woman's body or sex life, got unnecessarily close to or cornered a woman, repeatedly asked for a date and refused to take no for an answer, and threatened to hurt her job security if the woman did not have sex.

According to the International Labor Organization, sexual harassment plagues working women throughout the industrialized world. The ILO's 300 - page report described sexual harassment as one of the most offensive and demeaning experiences an employee can suffer. For those who are its victims, it often produces feelings of revulsion, violation, disgust, anger, and powerlessness, it said.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission recognizes two categories of sexual harassment. Quid pro quo is the kind of harassment that sees a boss offer a promotion to an employee in return for sex. Overwhelmingly, it has been men wielding the authority and power to control.

The second type of sexual harassment is a "poisoned environment" offence that can cover everything from bawdy jokes to pin - up girls, demeaning slurs to leers.

In a landmark 1989 case, the Supreme Court broadly defined sexual harassment as "unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that detrimentally affects the work environment" of the victim. Because many women deal with it informally or not at all -- sexual harassment is difficult to measure.

Experts say the boss who refuses to take no for an answer in the office may be acting out of some of the same motives as the boyfriend who refuses to take no for an answer in the bedroom. And, in both situations, women often don't come forward because they fear that they won't be believed or, that if they are, they will somehow be blamed.

As one victim says, sexual harassment isn't about sex, it's about control. A support group helped her understand "Men who sexually harass deny the behaviour, excuse the behaviour, justify it, blame the victim and finally cry, 'Woe is me, I'm the victim.'"

TIME FOR ACTION

Two studies were carried out in 1993 on women's shelters -- one by Statistics Canada and one by Health and Welfare Canada at a total cost of $2 million. Many felt the money should have gone to help battered women rather than on the more studies. Some shelter workers were so disgusted by what they saw as a total waste of money in a cash - starved field that they refused to respond to the Statscan survey. Those that did, had a combined budget of $97.5 - million with an average income of about $364,000 for each shelter. Each stay for a battered woman and her children costs an average of $1,300.

SELF - DEFENCE

The Supreme Court of Canada widened the legal meaning of self - defence in May 1990 when it restored the jury acquittal of a battered women who shot her boyfriend. Lyn Lavallee had been charged with second - degree murder. But the court said years of abuse by her boyfriend justified the shooting. The court supported her belief that she would be killed had she not killed her tormentor first.

The judgment said the law has historically sanctioned a man's right to own and discipline a woman, and the time has come to turn aside this destructive thinking.

The lawyer who defended Ms. Lavallee, Greg Brodsky, deemed the judgment "an extraordinarily significant decision," because "you do not have to wait until you have a gun pointed at you. If you honestly and reasonably feel your life is in peril, you can react."

Her boyfriend, Kevin Rust, was described in trial evidence as an overbearing and brutal man. Typical of battered women, Ms. Lavallee, after continual violent fights that often put her in hospital, would melt in the face of gifts and pleas for forgiveness from her temporarily apologetic boyfriend.

A MALE VIEW

On the Women's Monument Project in Vancouver, British Columbia -- 14 benches of pink granite each with the name of one of the 14 women slain at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique on 6 December 1989 -- the following is inscribed: "We, their sisters and brothers, remember, and work for a better world. In memory, and in grief for all the women who have been murdered by men. For women of all countries, all classes, all ages, all colours."

In 1994, Henry Gale, a Vancouver writer, wrote an article about his initial objection to the inscription. He found the phrase "murdered by men" disturbing because he thought he was being blamed, as a man, for what had happened in Montreal. But, upon reflection, he changed his mind.

Yes, the world is drowning in a rising tide of brutality," he wrote. "And the grim truth is that the violence is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men. Once, I plucked the "male" from "male violence" out of a misplaced sense of impartiality. By doing so, I rendered violence a causeless phenomenon, like the weather, which Canadian men and women have to endure. But there is a human face behind the fist, and most of the time, it's a man's. If we keep that face in shadow out of a mistaken sense of propriety, then how will the violence cease?

Evidence of change, which is hope in action, needs only the effort of individuals. I can oppose male violence and the degrading culture of violence that encourages men to harm women. Men who are decent, non - violent and law - abiding accept the truth of the inscription, realizing the issue if not about collective guilt but collective responsibility."

FACT FILE

A 1993 Gallup poll revealed that 54% of Canadian women are afraid to walk in areas of their neighbourhoods at night. In Toronto, that figure rises to 61%, and in Montreal it's 68%. Only 17% of men say they are afraid to walk in certain areas near home at night.

FACT FILE

Statistics show that between the ages of 6 and 20, students spend more time watching television than they do in school. During that period, the average child will witness dramatizations of about 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence.

Copyright Canada and The World Jan 1995
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