WORKPLACES CAN HELP CUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Employers, co-workers must be more aware, educated, supportive: report
A new report by the Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of Saskatchewan (PATHS) identifies a need for workplaces in helping reduce intimate partner violence in the province.
With more than half of residents in the labour force, workplaces are a logical place to talk about violence.
Also, in a province where police-reported intimate partner violence is more than double the national average, workplaces can be a safe haven.
“Being able to keep employment is so protective, not only in terms of finances, but of disrupting the isolation,” said Crystal Giesbrecht, PATHS director of research and communications and author of Intimate Partner Violence & the Workplace.
Work can provide “a place that’s safe and where you can get supports and talk to people, and then also the sense of self esteem that people get from having a job and being able to do their job well.”
However, there is discrimination in some workplaces, with employees feeling afraid to speak up, and management sometimes reprimanding or even dismissing staff due to the effects of domestic violence.
The PATHS report, to be released Friday, heard from 437 people through an online survey of 30 questions, as well as doing interviews and focus groups with 27 more people, between April 2016 and January 2017.
In some case, the abuse was physically brought to work, with some respondents reporting being stalked, with partners waiting in the parking lot or harassing them over the phone or in person. Some partners threatened co-workers.
According to Statistics Canada, in 2015, 1,086 per 100,000 Saskatchewan women reported intimate partner violence to police, compared with 482 per 100,000 women nationally.
More Saskatchewan men also reported violence — 254 per 100,000, versus 132 nationally.
There is an economic cost to all of this.
In 2009, spousal violence in Canada had an estimated $7.4-billion cost to the economy overall, with a $77.9-million cost directly to employers relating to lost productivity and administrative costs.
The report shows a need for education and awareness when it comes to intimate partner violence in the province, because a lot of people don’t seem to understand what it means, or how to address the issue.
Only one respondent stated they were a perpetrator of violence, yet many others admitted to behaving violently toward their partner.
Three people said they threatened their partner with a weapon; four said they had prevented their partner from attending work; six said they kicked or hit their partner; 20 said they’ve slapped or pushed a partner, or pulled their partner’s hair; 24 said they have humiliated their partner in front of other people; and 184 said they have yelled or swore at their partner.
“Right now, people don’t really understand the dynamics of intimate partner violence,” said Jo-Anne Dusel, PATHS executive director.
“They believe that there has to be physical violence for it to be considered abuse and we know that it’s actually a continuum of so much more, that basically comes down to issues of power and control.”
“If we make people aware of what intimate partner violence is and that there’s resources and supports, and how to respond when you’re experiencing or recognizing it, that’s where we’re going to see change,” said Giesbrecht.
One survey respondent said none of their co-workers had ever asked about the frequent time they were taking off work.
“Not once was I ever asked, ‘Hey are you OK?’ … I was burning through sick leave and taking leave without pay. Nobody even addressed it.”
“Victims lose everything,” another respondent said.
“Had to move away, leave school and work to be safe. If I could be open about the abuse maybe I could have created a safety plan,” the respondent added.
“A safety plan at work should also be implemented, so if something happens out of character, they can reference to the safety plan.”
That’s among the more than 40 recommendations the report offers to governments, employers, workers, survivors and perpetrators of violence.
Others include free and timely counselling through the Victims Compensation Program, adequate and consistent funding for services for survivors, and treatment for perpetrators of violence as a condition of continued employment.
Dusel and Giesbrecht agree that implementing legislation is their priority, following the lead of provinces like Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba.
Dusel would like to see domestic violence included in the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
“By putting it in the legislation, there’s an onus on the employers to develop policy and to become educated,” said Dusel.
“It’s not that it’s a very expensive process; it’s more about them taking the time and effort to get educated and put policies in place, and I think that could have an enormous impact.”
“If there’s a policy that says … ‘I have to talk to our manager, we can go together,’ … (it) makes it easier for people to have those conversations,” said Giesbrecht.
“With the absence of a policy, people don’t know what they’re supposed to say and they’re so afraid of doing the wrong thing that it leads to doing nothing.”
The report is part of a three-year project funded by Status of Women Canada, which continues through September 2018.
Dusel said the report was released sooner than later in order to contribute to provincial government conversations around legislation.
PATHS’ next steps involve communicating with businesses and facilitating workplace training.
Two training sessions are coming up, Nov. 9 in Regina and Nov. 14 in Saskatoon.
The report will be posted to pathssk.org/ipv-workplace on Friday.
PATHS is an umbrella group for 21 agencies across Saskatchewan that provide support for people experiencing intimate partner
violence.
The project’s steering committee includes members of unions, non-profit organizations, police, government, the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and violence survivors.