Fighting the perpetuation of woman abuse
Purple scarf campaign speaks to the need to educate and eradicate at the root
As demand for its services continues to rise, Gillian’s Place is asking community members to wear a purple scarf or tie this month to show support for women who have experienced abuse.
It’s being done as part of the Wrapped in Courage campaign.
“It’s one time when we all come together and recognize women’s abuse and the need for surrounding women with our own courage, as we tell everybody: the courage of one woman alone is not enough,” said executive director Tanja Loeb at the annual pancake breakfast at Market Square Tuesday.
That event, and the second annual pasta dinner held at the Smithville legion last week, are kickoffs to the month-long campaign held in communities across the province each November to mark Woman Abuse Awareness Month.
Loeb said the events are not meant to raise money for the shelter for abused women and children. Instead, they raise awareness.
“This is how we, hopefully, get the message out to the community and spread awareness about not just the issue, but the need for women to have the support of their community around them,” she said.
The organization aims to empower women and their children fleeing abuse, by providing a range of services and support for the communities of St. Catharines, Niagara-on-theLake and west Niagara.
Last year, requests for services increased 20 to 30 per cent, depending on the program.
Because demand is up, the organization has seen a 242 per cent increase in the number of women it’s had to turn away from the shelter and direct toward alternative arrangements over the past two years.
“We don’t know if that’s because woman abuse incidents are up or just the awareness and people’s willingness to step forward and do something about it is up,” said Loeb.
“Sometimes, we wonder if that’s a result of the #MeToo movement. We don’t really know why, but what we do know is that there’s an increased demand for our services and our staff are working harder than ever.”
St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik said it’s not easy work — not a job many people could do — but as demand rises, he said, it’s incumbent on the community to do more.
“While events like this shine a light on the need to have facilities like this within our community, it can’t just be a oneday or one-week or one-month thing,” Sendzik said.
“It’s got to be something that we really think about until we can get to the root cause of violence against women and children and really eradicate it from our community.
“We’re a long way from getting there.
“But we want to make sure we continue to support organizations like Gillian’s Place so people have a safe place to go when they’re in their darkest moments.”
Loeb said the key is prevention and fighting the root causes of gender-based violence. It’s important to break the cycle of violence. “When we get women in our shelter, accessing our services — and children, as well — we talk about how they can avoid perpetuating that cycle of abuse,” she said.
“It’s really a cycle, and our intervention has to happen at all of those different places around the cycle.”
Purple scarves and ties will be available at PenFinancial Credit Union branches across Niagara for $20 each.