>
About Us
>
Safer Community Planning
>
Safety Audits
>
Regional Initiatives
>
Neighbourhood Initiatives
>
Working at the Provincial
Level & Beyond
>
Publications
>
Links
>
Contact Us
Find out what's going on in your neighbourhood! Click here to find out about the James-Alexander community, or click here to find out about the Cairnsmore community. Remember to check back often for news and community updates!
|
|
Neighbourhood |
Community Development
Working at the Provincial Level
and Beyond
Projects and Linkages:
- Women and Community Safety in BC: A training and development program
- Women and Community Safety in BC: an integrated strategy
- Gender Mainstreaming
- FCM Project on Women’s Participation
- CCSI Community Network
- Women's Safety
WOMEN AND COMMUNITY SAFETY IN BC: PHASES ONE & TWO
The Women and Community Safety project grew out of the sheer volume of requests Safer Futures was receiving from other small, rural and/or isolated communities for advice, information and training on community safety and crime prevention.
The Women and Community Safety project has worked with individuals, community-based groups, educational institutions and provincial organizations in three main sectors - the women's anti-violence sector, the local government sector, and the crime prevention sector - to find collaborative and innovative solutions to the complex problem of women's personal safety and security.
Phase One
During 2000 – 2002, the Women and Community Safety Project provided training workshops for local women's groups and local governments in nine small, rural, and/or isolated communities around BC to increase their capacity to:
- promote awareness of the need for, and benefits of, women's safety programs
- build and establish effective community partnerships, and
- mobilize communities to take on greater responsibility in addressing women's local safety needs through the use of the Women's Safety Audit Tool.
The project also developed a training and resource manual on Women and Community Safety (see Women and Community Safety: a resource book on planning for safer communities, in consultation with small, rural and isolated communities engaged in local initiatives on women's safety.
We also provided general resource and referral information on women and community safety to relevant provincial organizations, and other small, rural and isolated communities (see Newsletters on our publications page).
Lessons learned from Phase One informed the development of Phase Two.
For more information, see the Final Project Report 2000 - 2002 on the publications page.
Phase Two: an integrated strategy
Building on lessons learned from Phase One, Phase Two (2002 – 2005) began with the premise that in order to successful create safer communities, planners and elected officials must be knowledgeable about women's safety issues, women's safety activists must be knowledgeable about community planning issues, and crime prevention practitioners must be knowledgeable about both.
Phase II:
- Conducted research on issues of women and community safety in small, rural and isolated communities in Canada and beyond,
- Promoted understanding of the need for provincial policy and programming on women and community safety issues in small, rural and/or isolated communities.
- Developed informational materials geared toward local government, women-serving, and crime prevention sectors.
- Supported individuals, groups and organizations involved in women and community safety initiatives in BC communities, with an emphasis on small rural and isolated ones (see also CCSI Community Network).
WOMEN AND COMMUNITY SAFETY IN BC: GENDER MAINSTREAMING
This needs an excerpt from our GM proposal.
FCM RESEARCH PROJECT – WOMEN IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Research Project – Women in Local Government
In 2004, the Cowichan region was chosen as one of only six communities across Canada to participate in a study funded by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Status of Women Canada.
The purpose of the project was to explore options for increasing women’s participation in local government processes (see project backgrounder).
The study looked at local government structure and consultation processes, and consulted with approximately 400 women from around the region to understand how they are or are not involved, and their barriers to participation.
The research indicated some promising trends with respect to citizen involvement and local government processes in the Cowichan Region. At the same time, it identified some significant gaps and barriers that will require efforts on the part of local governments and the community, so that we can all benefit from fuller participation and involvement.
A list of resources about women’s participation in government and decision-making can be found on the links page.
CCSI COMMUNITY NETWORK
WOMEN’S SAFETY
The defining feature of a safe, equitable community is the ability of all of its citizens, regardless of gender, race, age, income, sexuality, language or ability to participate fully and freely in all of its environments.
Why Focus on Women's Safety?
Communities belong to all of the people who live in them - yet the reality of violence in our homes, on our streets and in our places of work, means that the ability of women, and other marginalized groups, to fully participate in community life is severely limited.
This translates into numerous barriers to free and full participation in employment, education, recreation, community activities, and local decision-making processes.
When women's ability to participate is limited, the entire community is affected.
Canadian statistics illustrate the high proportion of women who experience, first hand, the affects and the aftermath of violence.
- One in two women in Canada over the age of 16 will be physically or sexually assaulted by a man at least once.
- One in three B.C. women is assaulted by her husband or partner
- Only about 6% of sexual assaults are ever reported
- 86% of Canadian women have experienced sexual harassment
(Statistics Canada, 1993)
First-hand experience of victimization is only one dimension of the issue. For the majority of women in Canada, knowledge of the risk of violence translates into fear of victimization - over half of women say they restrict their lives in order to be safe on a daily basis. Safety is a basic quality of life issue - victimization and fear have severe implications for women's health and well-being, and that of the entire community.
When women experience their social and physical environments as unsafe, they experience all sorts of barriers to free and full participation in employment, education, community activities, and local decision-making processes.
Nationally, over half of women say they restrict their lives in order to be safe on a daily basis (Statistics Canada, 1993 Violence Against Women Survey). This statistic is mirrored in our local research as well. In small, rural, and/or isolated communities, violence against women is particularly problematic - exacerbated by factors such as geographical and social isolation, lack of, or inadequate, public transportation systems, poor economic and social conditions, lack of essential and/or accessible emergency services such as crisis centres, medical clinics, social and police services, and long distances to work, recreation, and community services.
We know that when we make communities safer for women, we make them safer for everyone. For the past ten years we’ve conducted many research and community action projects and have created a body of knowledge about women's safety concerns - in their homes, in their workplaces, and in public places.
Our extensive work in the area of women’s safety and community safety has led us to conclude that there are many ways communities can work together to improve personal safety. These include:
- Talking and listening to the issues
- Improving places people identify as feeling unsafe
- Planning and designing places to be safer and more accessible
- Supportive services and programs
- Education and awareness
Communities belong to all of the people who live in them.
|
|
|
