Family Violence Initiative

Making Family Violence Law Information Available to People in Rural Areas

An Inventory of Promising Practices

March 31, 2002

Prepared by:
Deborah Doherty, Ph.D.
Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research

PDF Version

The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice of Canada.

Prepared by:

Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research
678 Windsor Street, P.O. Box 4400
Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3
Tel: 506-453-3595
Fax: 506-453-4788

The Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research was established in 1992. The Centre conducts action-oriented research and public education relating to family violence and violence against women. The Centre is affiliated with the University of New Brunswick and actively builds and sustains partnerships among academics, policy makers, community workers, and community organizations. The Centre supports the work of many research teams, which are conducting collaborative studies into a wide range of family violence issues in the search for determinants and solutions. Ultimately, the goal of the Centre is to identify underlying root causes of family violence with a view to ending violence and supporting the victims and survivors of family violence. The Centre is a founding member of the Canadian Alliance of Five Research Centres on Violence established in 1997.

March 2002

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Section 1 — Background and Methodology

Section 2 — Why Focus on Reaching Rural Communities?

Section 3 — Best Practices in Sharing Family Violence Law Information in Rural Areas

Section 4 — Insights on Developing Effective Strategies To Reach Rural Areas

Section 5 — Key Findings and Proposed Actions

Appendices

ENDNOTES

Executive Summary

In February 2002, the Department of Justice Canada contracted with the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research, hereafter referred to as the Research Centre, to develop an inventory of strategies and methods used by public legal education and information (PLEI) organizations and others in sharing family violence law information with people living in rural areas. The inventory categorizes the various methods and makes recommendations regarding most promising practices. Ultimately this inventory is intended to serve as a blueprint for agencies that deliver family violence information in rural areas.

The inventory presents an overview of the kinds of products and services that PLEI organizations and others consider relevant for persons living with family violence. Public legal education and information organizations (PLEI groups), family violence prevention agencies and victim services groups in most provinces and territories have developed specific products on family violence. These include, for example, abuse handbooks for women, children and the elderly, information about victim services, and numerous publications about criminal and family law matters for women leaving violent relationships. Many of these organizations have web sites where service providers and individuals can peruse these publications on-line or order hard copies.

There is a clear recognition that the information required by persons living with or leaving a violent relationship must cover a broad range of issues. Law information is most often accompanied by general information on how to recognize signs of abuse, where to seek shelter and the services available. The inventory also outlines the formats these products take ranging from pamphlets to radio messages and Internet sites.

However, the primary focus of the inventory is on the strategies developed to ensure the various forms of relevant materials are accessible to rural women, seniors and others experiencing family violence. This information has not been readily shared. This is not due to any code of secrecy. Rather, it relates to the inherent difficulties in chronicling and sharing process information. This inventory attempts to address this gap by reviewing the actual methods and mechanisms for delivering or successfully disseminating information, in this case to people experiencing abuse in rural areas.

Objectives:

The inventory will be a valuable asset for sole purpose PLEI organizations as well as for the various intermediaries who attempt to support and help victims of family violence living in rural areas. Successful and innovative delivery mechanisms are documented with a view to encouraging duplication of these practices, where appropriate. Such an inventory will assist PLEI groups to create funding proposals to pilot related initiatives in their own jurisdictions in the future.

Participation by PLEI practitioners and others delivering family violence prevention services was excellent. Although returns from the mail-back questionnaire were moderate (30 out of 100), those who did respond shared a variety of innovative practices and strategies for reaching rural audiences across Canada. Participants unanimously agreed that there are significant barriers to law information access for people living in rural areas and that concerted efforts must be made to overcome some of the unique obstacles that impede access, particularly in the area of family violence. The primary barriers identified included physical isolation, lack of available transportation, poverty, low levels of literacy and numeracy, unfamiliarity with the legal system, the complexity and inefficiency of the social services system in rural areas, and social and cultural values often based in conventional religious beliefs which keep family problems in the private realm.

During the interviews, participants had the opportunity to discuss the details of the development of particular family violence products, services or projects. They were also asked to elaborate on the strategies used to reach rural audiences and to indicate how they gauged the success of their initiatives. Given the time constraints in preparing this inventory, we were not able to contact all PLEI groups and family violence prevention organizations in Canada. As a result, the inventory is by no means intended to be exhaustive.

Nevertheless, a wealth of promising and best practices emerged for sharing family violence law information in rural areas. These range from a special page in the telephone directory, to coordination of agency responses, to a poster project, a lipstick campaign, train the trainer and information sessions.

Those who participated in this inventory emphasized the importance of reaching out and networking with rural agencies, women's groups, service providers and local “movers and shakers". This is critical for the successful development and delivery of family violence materials and prevention programs in rural areas.

The following key learnings were found to underlie the various methods and strategies for getting family violence information to rural audiences, particularly those dealing with family violence. The list is not exhaustive, however, it offers valuable insights into what the participants and researchers have learned about dissemination of family violence law information and how best to touch the lives of people in rural areas.

Section 1 - Background and Methodology

1.1 Introduction

In February 2002, the Department of Justice Canada contracted with the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research, hereafter referred to as the Research Centre, to develop an inventory of strategies and methods used by public legal education and information (PLEI) organizations and others in sharing family violence law information with people living in rural areas. The Research Centre is able to contribute to this initiative, not only by surveying and analyzing the responses of PLEI organizations across Canada, but by sharing findings from affiliated research teams working in the area of family violence in a rural context.

This inventory attempts to categorize the various delivery methods and makes recommendations regarding some of the most promising practices. Ultimately the inventory intends to serve as a blueprint for any agency that wishes to enhance its delivery of family violence information in rural areas.

1.2 Objectives

The objectives of the inventory include:

1.3 Methodology

Given the short timeline for completing this inventory, the project used a qualitative approach based on questionnaires, interviews and individual consultations. The following data collection tools and research methods were used:

Section 2 - Why Focus on Reaching Rural Communities?

Despite the dramatic shift in migration into urban areas, especially over the past twenty-five years, Canada continues to have significant populations living in rural communities. Yet dwindling services and resources mean that people in farm and rural communities often feel forgotten or overlooked when it comes to accessing information. Clearly PLEI organizations in all provinces and territories face the challenge of responding to the information needs and barriers of their rural constituents.

Disseminating law information is always a challenge. Finding ways of getting relevant information into the hands of hard to reach target audiences means addressing both the content of the information and its effective distribution. When dealing with a sensitive subject such as family violence, PLEI practitioners must carefully select the methods and mechanisms they employ to share information in ways that do not put victims at risk.

So, what exactly is a rural community? There are many definitions of what constitutes a “rural” community. The Census defines rural areas as small towns, villages and other places with populations of less than 1,000.[2] By this rather conservative definition, Prince Edward Island (55%) and the Northern Territories have the highest percentage of their population living in rural areas. New Brunswick also is predominantly rural with 51% of the population living in rural areas followed closely by Newfoundland at 43%. Census data reveal that 22% of the population of Quebec and 17% of Ontarians live in rural areas. The rural population of Manitoba is 28%, Saskatchewan is 37% and British Columbia is18%.

Although the definition above has been used by a number of the family violence research studies and reports (i.e., Biesenthal and Sproule 2000; Brookbank 1995; ORWAS Community Reports 1998), quantitative definitions of “rural” do not necessarily exclude common sense descriptive terms or self-identification. Most people tend to intuitively “refer to the countryside or small towns as opposed to cities.”[3] Clearly, a strict demographic and quantitative definition is not required to define “rural”.[4]

Rural communities often share cultural, social and physical characteristics that distinguish them from urban environments. For example, some rural farming areas have common cultural backgrounds, traditions and fairly homogeneous populations. However, rural areas also reflect considerable diversity. Farming is only one activity that happens in rural areas and farmers are only one kind of rural resident. Other economic pursuits associated with rural communities include fishing, agro-food production, logging and forestry, and even unemployment. There is really “no typical rural setting in Canada. It can be a farm, a northern single-resource community... A rural woman in Canada may be English or French with an agricultural ancestry, a native woman who lives on an isolated reserve, or an immigrant woman whose husband is working in a mining town, or a woman who lives in a dying logging community, small coastal fishing village. Consequently, the experience of a farm woman in southern Ontario is very different from an immigrant Mexican Mennonite in southern Manitoba or a transient summer worker in the Yukon.”[5]

There are many hard to reach audiences living in Canada. They include, for example, low-income earners, single parents, Aboriginal people, immigrants and refugees, people struggling with literacy issues, and abused women generally - to mention just a few. Some of these people live in urban centres or in culturally defined communities. However, some also live in rural, farm and remote areas. For this reason, the strategies we develop to reach rural people must involve an understanding of, and sensitivity to, the various cultural and social dimensions of particular audiences. Clearly there is no one answer to reaching people in rural areas.

This inventory focuses predominantly on the techniques and strategies for disseminating information, and less on cultural adaptations. However, it should prove extremely useful as a vehicle for sharing process information that is usually not apparent when practitioners look at one another's publication lists. The inventory offers a wealth of examples of successful strategies. Although a particular initiative or project may have been designed for a specific community, many of the “learnings” and “best practices” are generic in nature. These learnings are highly transferable, while the actual projects may themselves be replicable with some modifications, to a variety of rural populations.

2.1.1 Challenges in Reaching Rural Audiences - Addressing the Barriers

People living in rural areas obviously face obstacles in obtaining law and family violence information because of geographic distances and isolation. In addition, rural communities have higher poverty rates and unemployment and seasonal employment tends to be higher. Rural communities generally have fewer resources and services available including access to health care, education, counselling, affordable housing and other social services. Public transportation and licensed childcare may be inadequate or non-existent. Finally, traditional norms around marriage and the family are more prevalent in rural communities, as are patriarchal attitudes that may foster more rigid sex-role stereotyping (Gagne 1992; Hornosty and Doherty 2001; Jiwani 1998; Websdale 1998). All of these factors correlate to some extent with higher levels of family violence. Although McLeod's (1980) groundbreaking study for the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women found that the incidence of family violence in rural areas is similar to urban areas, others feel that it may be underreported or easier to hide in rural communities (Chalmers and Smith 1988; Martz and Sarauer 2000).

Taken together, such barriers make it more difficult not only to access information but also to act on one's rights or obtain services or assistance. PLEI organizations and family violence prevention services that wish to adapt family violence information and products for a rural audience, and/or find ways of reaching that audience, must be familiar with the rural context of their province or territory. Since most PLEI organizations and many provincial services are located in urban areas, responding to rural residents means getting to know their rural communities. This involves researching and understanding the barriers that inhibit access to information in general and to family violence information in particular.

Those who participated in this inventory emphasized the importance of reaching out and networking with rural agencies, women's groups, service providers and local “movers and shakers". This is critical for the successful development and delivery of family violence materials and prevention programs in rural areas.

Although barriers that prevent people from accessing information can vary from region to region, and province to province, existing research and needs assessments[6] conducted for Justice Canada suggest that PLEI practitioners must be aware of and address a variety of obstacles in order to share family violence information in rural areas. Participants in this project, and documentation from a literature review[7] relating to PLEI practices and family violence in rural areas, identified the following barriers[8] to access to information in rural areas. Some solutions for addressing these barriers are presented on page 38.

Physical, Geographical and Social Isolation — Many rural communities are isolated. Distances pose challenges in organizing events, finding places to display family violence materials and getting them into the hands of victims. Access to public transportation is especially difficult in rural areas. Getting information into the hands of people living in isolation is a significant barrier. Such geographic isolation is further exacerbated if the abuser also isolates the victim socially from family and friends.

Poverty — Poverty impacts on access to information in many ways. People experiencing abuse may not know about social services or how to access the legal system. They may not be able to afford to hire a lawyer and they may feel helpless. They may not even be able to afford long distance calls or make trips to town to talk to service providers. They may feel that if they leave they will be doomed to a life on welfare which may be more threatening than the periodic abuse experienced in the home.

Low Education/Literacy Levels — Since information is often packaged in written formats, low literacy levels create significant barriers for persons trying to find out about their options when they are living with family violence. In fact, 45% of Canadians over the age of 16 years do not meet minimum desirable standards for literacy (Statistics Canada 1998). Since victims living in rural areas are less likely to have access to service providers who can interpret and present information to them, they may be more reliant on reading pamphlets and materials available in a doctor's office or some private space. If the information is not in plain language and easy to understand, the pamphlets may be of little help.

Stigma - Traditional religious or family-oriented values are often strong in rural areas. While providing positive community support to many people, for victims of abuse these same value systems can significantly deter them from seeking information about options for dealing with an abusive situation. Rural folk often feel that everyone knows everyone else's business so it is important to guard their “secret" from the gossip mill. Research on abuse in rural communities found that women are often blamed for triggering the abuse and that the community tends to minimize and normalize abusive behaviours (Hornosty and Doherty 2001).

Limited Resources in Rural Areas — Health and social services are usually minimal in rural areas. Many abuse awareness programs attempt to get information into the hands of the helping professionals who might come into contact with victims of family violence. In areas where such service providers are non-existent, accurate information must come from other sources such as radio programming. Even in rural areas that have local service providers, many are ill equipped to address their clients' family violence law information needs.

Cultural Values — Traditional shared values often characterize rural or remote communities. Traditional values sometimes reflect strong gender role stereotyping that can minimize abuse or blame women for disharmony in the family (Gagne, 1992). For example, farm communities may have a fierce sense of autonomy and independence that places the family in the private domain. This can inhibit friends and families from offering assistance when they suspect that a family member is being abused in the home. Other cultural factors that need to be considered in reaching isolated people include language, belief systems, oral traditions of communications, and religious beliefs.

Section 3 - Promising Practices in Sharing Family Violence Law Information in Rural Areas

Over 100 PLEI organizations and family violence prevention services across Canada received a questionnaire asking about their strategies for sharing family violence information in rural areas. Approximately 30 organizations responded and most of these organizations later participated in an in-depth interview. During the interviews, participants had the opportunity to discuss the details of the development of particular family violence products, services or projects. They were also asked to elaborate on the strategies used to reach rural audiences and to indicate how they gauged the success of their initiatives. Given the time constraints in preparing this inventory, we were not able to contact all PLEI groups and family violence prevention organizations in Canada. As a result, the inventory is by no means intended to be exhaustive.

The participating agencies shared an amazing array of projects and practices for disseminating family violence information in rural areas. Some had several examples of projects or distribution strategies that were designed to reach rural audiences. Other undertook projects that were not targetted at rural audiences, but that had been effective in reaching rural folk. When asked what initiative had been most successful, we often heard about an initiative that had been funded and implemented several years earlier. Because the initiative was funded as a project with a fixed life span, it had ended. Many organizations indicated that they would have liked to continue certain initiatives, however, the activity was not covered within their core funding. Moreover, project funders typically will not duplicate an initiative that they have already funded. Thus, the biggest challenge of developing promising practices often turns out to be the lack of sustainability that is associated with “one-of" or “one-time initiatives".

In light of this, the report includes past and current strategies. We encouraged organizations to highlight any project, even ones implemented in the past, which demonstrated a successful method for sharing family violence law information in rural areas. Some of the projects profiled are in the early implementation phases. For the most part, they reflect the process of reaching rural audiences. Given that some projects were similar, we have not included every example shared with us. Nor have we tried to compile a list of each organization's family violence law information products which are plentiful. Occasionally the inventory profiles a particular product to show how it was adapted or disseminated in an effective and appropriate manner for a rural audience.

The remainder of this chapter presents a variety of initiatives across Canada. Using a chart, we present the project, identify the organization that played the lead role (followed by the partners and funders if known) and share the promising indicators of success. Such indicators are not always well developed. They sometimes reflect qualitative responses by particular users. Finally, an overview of the ways the project reached rural victims of abuse is included. Chapter 4 will provide a more exhaustive discussion of some of the “learnings" in adapting content or form and developing effective strategies.

How does it reach Abused Rural Women/other Victims?

Promising Practices - Partnering with Rural Communities and Local Service Providers

Promising Practices — Partnering with Provincial Service Providers

Promising Practices - In Community Coordination

Promising Practices - Partnering with Employers and Local Service Clubs

Promising Practices - In Creating a Safe Space to Recover

Promising Practices - Partnering with Farm or Women's Group

Promising Practices - Partnering with Farm or Women's Group

Promising Practices - Coordinating Rural Responses

Promising Practices - Partnering with Rural Churches

Promising Practices - Partnering in Getting Information Directly into the Hands of Rural People

Promising Practices - Partnership with Schools

Promising Practices - Partnering with the Legal System

Promising Practices - Piggy Backing on Rural Events

Promising Practices - Targetted Mailouts to Rural Areas

Promising Practices - Using Internet to Reach Rural People

Promising Practices - Incorporating Rural Context in a Product

Promising Practices - Partnering with Women's Groups and Local Service Providers

Promising Practices - Partnering with Provincial and Local Service Providers

Section 4 - Insights on Developing Effective Strategies To Reach Rural Areas

4.1 Promising Practices — Key Learnings and Strategies for Reaching People in Rural Areas

Participants were asked what kinds of strategies and mechanisms they use, if any, to ensure that the information is distributed to, or readily accessible to, rural people generally and rural clients experiencing family violence in particular. A wealth of promising and best practices emerged for reaching rural audiences with information about family violence, ranging from a special page in the telephone directory, to coordination of agencies, a poster project, lipstick campaign and train the trainer and information sessions.

Below is an overview of the learnings that underlie the various methods and strategies for getting family violence information to rural audiences, particularly those dealing with family violence. The list is not exhaustive, however, it offers insights into what we have learned on how best to touch the lives of people in rural areas. Although a project that was developed for a particular rural area may be specific to that community, the methods used are often based on replicable strategies that can be applied across jurisdictions.

4.2 Establish Rural Partnerships With Service Providers, Farm & Women's Groups, Local People

Partnering with rural service providers and others living in rural areas was one of the most frequently cited strategies for sharing family violence information in rural areas. Some of the key learnings from this strategy include:

Build up a good rapport with service providers

Identify key rural people with an interest in the topic

Don't impose a project on a rural community - work together

Seek the help of rural service providers at the front end when developing products and initiatives

Consult rural agencies about the content of information — relevance, etc.

Find appropriate places to display materials in rural areas

Incorporate family violence information into non-threatening events

4.3 Promote Direct Access to Information

Getting family violence information directly into the hands of individuals is an important goal for many PLEI organizations. Rural victims often do not have access to social service providers who can explain options and present information to them.

4.4 Promote Sustainability

It was clear from talking to PLEI practitioners and others delivering family violence related information that sustainability of exciting, promising practices are a significant obstacle to on-going success and transferability of projects. Unfortunately, many of the initiatives described in Chapter 3 as promising practices, were funded as one-time projects. Practitioners explained that they have been involved in highly successful initiatives that seem to reach rural victims of family violence, but that once the funding is over, the initiative ends. If the initiative continues without further funding, there may no longer be time to monitor or evaluate outcomes. Nevertheless, there were some suggestions about developing strategies to help ensure longer-term success of projects or to keep them “running” after the funding was over.

Support and stay linked to rural services

Help communities obtain resources to help themselves

4.5 Be Sensitive to the Rural Context - Social and Cultural Factors

In order to reach people in rural and remote communities, we must not only address the transportation barriers and other access obstacles such as poverty and literacy, we must know the culture of our community and make our information culturally appropriate and relevant.

Incorporate examples of rural or farm context

• A research study (Hornosty and Doherty 2001) on family violence in rural areas suggested that family violence materials, programs and information should incorporate examples of abuse that are relevant in a farm or rural context. Materials designed for urban markets may not speak to rural or farm women.
• The study suggests that family violence information targetted for rural audiences offer concrete examples. It might indicate that emotional abuse may take many forms and these sometimes involve blaming the victim for everything that goes wrong around the farm, including broken equipment or bad weather.

Know the culture and issues in your rural communities

• Rural areas are not monolithic — address cultural issues[12].
• The Inuit Women's Association creates Inuktitut versions of information so that it is meaningful to women living in remote and isolated communities.

Recognize that personal safety issues are different in rural areas

Put family violence law information into a rural/farm context

Include information about the impact of family violence on children.

• A recent study[13] on family violence in rural areas notes that children play an important role in the decision making of abused women. This study suggests that it is important to speak to the impact on children who witness or experience abuse in their families. Knowing the significant negative long term effects of family violence on children may motivate many women to learn more about their options.

4.6 Know and Address the Barriers Confronting Rural People in Your Area

On page 10, this report examined barriers that inhibit rural victims of abuse from accessing family violence information and services. Most of the successful dissemination and distribution techniques and strategies for getting information into the hands of people living in rural areas involved strategies for mitigating these barriers. They included, for example:

Isolation and transportation problems

Poverty

Low literacy / educational levels

Address lack of privacy

4.7 Connect family violence information with other related issues

Interestingly, from the checklist of possible topics set out on the questionnaire, most respondents indicated that they offer not only criminal law information, but also considerable amounts of family law information, general information on shelters, recognizing the signs of abuse and how to access other services.

Law is a highly specialized field and the judicial system can be complex. Having to deal with the justice system can be daunting for anyone, even those for whom access to information is easy. However, rural women often face tremendous barriers in accessing accurate information. They may need information about family law, as well as their role as the victim/witness in a criminal case against their spouse, information on personal safety and crisis services, not to mention referrals to counselling and possibly information on employment/training opportunities and housing. The entry point into the information system is not likely to be directly through public legal education. For this reason, social service agencies, shelters, health care providers and others involved in family violence prevention organizations have typically sought and disseminated law information as well. Here are a few of the key learnings.

Recognize that family law information is important to women leaving violent relationships

Work with agencies who create safe spaces for recovery

4.8 Consider the appropriateness of the vehicles used to share information

Print materials can facilitate easy and safe access

Print materials still tend to be one of the most popular ways of sharing information about family violence. The materials developed by PLEI organizations and others range from flyers and pamphlets, to booklets and handbooks. Often the family violence law information produced is intended to educate service providers who can then better inform persons dealing with family violence about their options. However, the format of print materials can sometimes facilitate easy and safe access for victims themselves. In order to address issues of safety and privacy several organizations have presented information in new and unusual formats. These have included

Other formats considered useful for reaching rural audiences

Toll-free Information Lines
The telephone is an important means of communication in the farming regions where neighbors are separated by distance. Several PLEI organizations offer a general toll-free law information line. Saskatchewan, which considers itself a largely rural province, has promoted the help line as an excellent vehicle for reaching people living in rural areas with information about family violence. A toll-free family violence line helps to address the obvious issue of financial constraints of rural people as well as concerns related to privacy and literacy. For example, if an abused woman calls long distance to find out about services such as a transition house, this would leave a telltale long distance call on the phone bill. A toll-free line avoids this. However, there should be on-going advertising to promote the purpose of the help lines andcreate familiarity with where to find the numbers. Advertising should be widespread and in places frequented by rural people. Saskatchewan used billboards and newspaper articles to promote awareness of the Hot Peach Pages (See Best Practices, page 23).

The Internet and new technologies.

Train-the-Trainer sessions

4.9 Consider adapting the information for a rural audience

Participants in this inventory felt that information directed at rural clients should be adapted, although many had not been able to do so. Certainly, research findings from studies of family violence in rural areas also point to the need to adapt information to make it relevant and appropriate. The costs associated with producing separate products for people in rural areas were often a deterrent. Nevertheless, many organizations have adapted their materials to make them more relevant and culturally sensitive to victims of abuse and violence living in rural and remote areas. As well, research studies offer additional insights into reaching people experiencing abuse in a rural context.

There are primarily two ways in which organizations producing family violence information adapt their products for rural areas. They can adapt the content to make it more relevant, or they can customize the resources and local contacts. In light of the barriers confronting many rural people living with abuse, the following adaptations may help to make the information relevant and tailor messages to a rural audience. Here is an overview of some of the adaptations that have been made or suggested by participants and by research findings in this area.

Use local contact information

Simplify Information

Define Abuse

Use pictures and graphics

4.10 Coordination of services is the best way to share information

Those organizations that have had an opportunity to work collaboratively, or develop interagency approaches, were adamant that this is the best way to ensure success. British Columbia's experience in implementing the Community Coordination for Women's Safety, Alberta's experience in working with Community Adult Learning Councils to find effective ways of reaching rural audiences, and New Brunswick's Caring Communities initiative to deliver public awareness of family violence at the grassroots level, all attest to the benefits of giving communities the tools to solve problems and work together to develop solutions.

Community development approaches encourage long-term social solutions

4.11 Develop Indicators of Success

Those who participated in this inventory project felt positive about the projects and methods they had developed to reach rural people. The PLEI organizations routinely monitor their distribution of law information. Most organizations can say how many thousands of copies of a particular pamphlet were distributed around their province and what kinds of agencies used it. However, monitoring and evaluating the success of projects and initiatives in terms of whether they specifically reached rural people dealing with abuse was more problematic. Although most of the participants in this project felt intuitively that their family violence initiatives or products were successful, many had not established specific indicators of success. To a certain extent, this is a reflection of the lack of funding to conduct full-scale evaluations. However, establishing parameters around what you hope to accomplish and periodically reviewing progress can help immensely in ensuring the effectiveness of dissemination strategies and uptake of the information. Here are a few key learnings and suggestions.

Know what you want to accomplish —set goals

• Set some standards to measure progress. If you develop a new web site, how many hits are you expecting each week? Do you expect the volume to increase because of a promotional campaign? If so, be sure to assess your measurement capabilities and put some indicators in place.

• Be proactive. If you want to reach more rural people, then think of strategies for doing so. New Brunswick monitored usage and found very low uptake in rural counties. After conducting a public awareness initiative in these counties, they were able to detect a dramatic increase in usage of law information products, particularly family violence materials. By having a baseline, you can measure the use of your materials before and after you make an effort to strengthen your presence in an area.  

Recognize that qualitative information is important

• Many of the PLEI organizations use anecdotal feedback from front-line service providers who distribute the family violence information directly to abuse victims to determine whether it is helpful and making a difference. Also, the comments and call backs from people who have called an agency directly for information sheds light on information that is difficult to understand as well as information that has been very helpful. In one community that used newspaper articles about family violence, the Provincial Caring Partnership initiative reported that the local committee received a letter from a woman thanking them for saving her life. That letter became a key indicator of success and a motivation to continue the public awareness effort.
• Even in evaluating a web site, the number of hits is not the only indicator of success. Sometimes just the fact that local organizations are becoming keen to partner with you in the future, or see the website as their “own tool”, is a sign that you are setting up a process to ensure success in the long term.

Monitor growth in requests to deliver information at events

• Many organizations have speaker's bureaus and other services that encourage community organizations to call when they are organizing events in their area and want a speaker to address a specific law information topic. By monitoring where and how often communities request speakers, the organizations have a way of knowing what areas of the province they are known in and what areas they should consider targeting for greater public relations.
• If you use “information requests” as an indicator of interest in a topic, then you must be willing to promote your services so people are aware they can make requests. It may not be a lack of interest that is keeping people from calling and booking a speaker, rather a lack of awareness of what you offer.

• In Saskatchewan, calls to help lines were monitored for three months after the Hot Peach Pages had come out to determine if this project made a difference in access. The service agencies reported anywhere from 12% to 100% of the callers having found their number from the new peach pages. Usage of the phone book was highest in rural areas. This kind of evaluative information supports the maintenance and continuation of such services.

Look for a variety of indicators of success

Section 5 - Key Findings and Proposed Actions

The following chapter is intended to present a capsule commentary on the key findings in the report, each of which is accompanied by a proposed action for effective delivery of family violence law information in rural areas.

Appendix A: Data Collection Instruments — Covering Letter and Questionnaire

Dear Colleagues:

RE: COMPILATION OF AN INVENTORY FOR GETTING FAMILY VIOLENCE INFORMATION TO PEOPLE IN RURAL AREAS

The Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research is compiling a national inventory for Justice Canada relating to how public legal education organizations, family violence prevention services, and others, strive to get appropriate family violence related information to people living in rural areas.

As you know, most provinces and territories in Canada have large rural populations. Living in rural communities can create barriers to accessing information generally and these obstacles are even greater for victims of family violence. Barriers can range from sheer geography and isolation, to language or literacy barriers, community norms against speaking out about abuse, myths and misconceptions about victims rights, lack of infrastructure to deliver information, and others. How do you get information to people who may be experiencing abuse and violence in a rural context? What kind of information do they need? How do you know if you have been successful?

We want to explore these questions with you in order to prepare an inventory of “best” and “promising” practices. A listing of existing family violence pamphlets or materials is not particularly useful by itself. What we need to share with one another are the unique and effective ways that we have found for touching the lives of rural people. Justice Canada is committed to translating the final report/inventory and making it available to all of you as a tool for future action.

Please help us to make this inventory as comprehensive as possible. We need to hear about the effective strategies and methods that you have used to accomplish this challenging task. We ask that you complete the attached questionnaire and return it to the Research Centre by fax at 506-453-4788. Because the time lines for this project are short, we encourage your responses by February 15, 2002.

After analyzing the feedback, a representative of the Centre will be contacting many of you to arrange an interview. I thank you in advance for your cooperation and insights.

Yours truly,

Deborah Doherty, Ph.D.
Consultant Community Research and Special Projects
Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research
P.O. Box 4400, 678 Windsor Street
Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3
Tel: 506-452-6367
Fax: 506-453-4788 

MAKING FAMILY VIOLENCE INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO PEOPLE LIVING IN RURAL AREAS

QUESTIONNAIRE

Please take a few minutes to answer the questions below. We do not want extensive detail at this time. We hope that the general information you provide will help us to identify promising strategies and methods for making law-related information and other helpful resources and service available and accessible to rural victims of family violence. After receiving the completed questionnaires, we will contact many of you to arrange a follow-up interview in order to obtain detailed information about your strategies.

PLEASE FAX COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRE TO 506-453-4788 (att: D. Doherty)

1.  What kind of information does your organization have to help victims of family violence and how is it packaged? (Please check all relevant boxes)

2.  What kinds of strategies and mechanisms do you use, if any, to ensure that the information is distributed to, or readily accessible for, rural people generally and rural clients experiencing family violence in particular? Do you...

[ ] Partner with rural service providers
[ ] Partner with farm or women's organizations
[ ] Partner with local churches, schools, other groups
[ ] Partner with special programs (well-baby, health clinics, etc.)
[ ] Piggy back on rural events
[ ] Monitor distribution in rural areas
[ ] Target mail outs to rural areas
[ ] Set up displays in rural areas
[ ] Have rural outreach initiatives
[ ] Other (please specify) ________________________________________________

3.  Do you ever modify the content of your information (specific contact numbers, specialized versions, etc.) to make it more relevant for rural clients? If so, how?

4.  How do you know you have been successful in reaching rural clients? What are some of the indicators that rural clients are accessing your information?

Your Name:______________
Agency:_________________
Address:________________
Telephone:_______________
Fax: ____________________
Email ___________________

Appendix B - Organizations/Individuals Completing Questionnaires and/or Participating in Interviews/Consultations

Deborah Doherty, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Consultant, Community Research and Special Projects
Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research
P.O. Box 4400, 678 Windsor Street
Fredericton, NB E3B 5A3
Tel: 506-452-6367
Fax: 506-453-4788
Email: doherty@unb.ca or fvrc@unb.ca

Willa Stevenson
Research Assistant/Interviewer

Mark Garrett
UNB Law Student - Interviewer

Appendix D: References

Alderson-Gill & Associates Consulting Inc., PLEI Family Violence Materials: Needs Assessment Report, Synthesis of Findings (Ottawa: Department of Justice, March 2000), p. 1.

Biesenthal, L., L. Sproule, M. Nelder, S. Golton, D. Mann, D. Podovinnikoff, I. Roosendaal, S. Warman, and D. Lunn. Research Report: The Ontario Rural Woman Abuse Study (ORWAS) Final Report. Ottawa: Department of Justice, 2000.

Canadian Farm Women's Network. Family Violence in Rural, Farm and Remote Canada. Unpublished Report. Fredericton, 1995.

Chalmers, L. and Smith, P. “Wife Battering: Psychological, Social and Physical Isolation and Counteracting Strategies.” In A.T. McLaren, ed. Gender and Society. Toronto: Copp Clark, 1998.

Epprecht, N. “The Ontario Rural Woman Abuse Study (ORWAS)”. Paper presented at the Domestic Violence in Special Populations 1^st Session of the 7^th International Family Violence Research Conference, University of New Hampshire, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, July 2001.

Family Violence on the Farm and in Rural Communities Research Team. Barriers to the Use of Support Services by Family Violence Victims in Northumberland County. Report submitted to the New Brunswick Department of the Solicitor General. Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research, Fredericton, 1997.

Gagne, P. “Appalachian Women: Violence and Social Control”. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. Vol 20. pp. 387-415, 1992.

Government of New Brunswick. A Better World for Women: Government Response to the Minister's Working Group on Violence Against Women, Fredericton, New Brunswick, December 2001.

Hornosty, J and Doherty, D. “Responding to Wife Abuse in Farm and Rural Communities: Searching for Solutions that Work.” SIPP Policy Paper 10, presented to Rural Canada: Moving Forward or Left Behind, Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, Regina, Saskatchewan. 2001. Available from the World Wide Web: (www.uregina.ca/sipp/publications.htm)

Hornosty, J and Doherty, D.“Barriers Women Face in Leaving AbusiveRelationships in Farm and Rural communities:The Importance of Understanding the Social and Cultural Context of Abuse,” Paper Presented at: 7^th International Family Violence Research Conference Portsmouth, New Hampshire, July 2001.

Jiwani, Y. Rural Women and Violence: A Study of Two Communities in British Columbia: Unedited Technical Report. Ottawa: Department of Justice, 1998.

Justice Canada, From Isolation to Integration: Public Legal Education and Information Needs in Response to Family Violence in Rural Areas of Canada, November 2001

Martz, D., and Sarauer, D. Domestic Violence and the Experiences of Rural Women in East Central Saskatchewan [online]. Muenster: Centre for Rural Studies and Enrichment, 2000 [cited 05 November 2001].

Websdale, N. Rural Women and the Justice System: an Ethnography. Thousand Oaks, California, 1998.

Scott, Wendy, and Caroline VanDine. “Family Violence” in Rural, Farm and Remote Canada. Canadian Farm Women's Network, 1995.

Statistics Canada. 1996 Census. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 1996.

ENDNOTES

[1] Justice Canada, From Isolation to Integration: Public Legal Education and Information Needs in Response to Family Violence in Rural Areas of Canada, August 2001.