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0. Executive Summary
1. Nunavut
2. Northwest Territories
3. Yukon Territory
4. General Recommendations

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

Between January 2001 and August 2002, an extensive consultation was undertaken with victim service providers, community-based service providers and government officials across the three northern territories. This project had a number of inter-related tasks and objectives. In addition to developing a comprehensive inventory of services currently available to victims of crime in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and Yukon, the project also identified best practices, challenges, and gaps in delivery of victim services in the territories.

This report summarizes the findings from that consultation process and makes recommendations to address the issues raised. The recommendations are grounded in the context of each territory.

Nunavut: Findings 

An inventory of formal Nunavut services was undertaken to explore the nature and extent of formally structured social services available to victimized Nunavummiut. The decision was made to contact all service delivery organizations, agencies, offices, and some government departments, including such institutions as schools and churches whose mandate is not specifically service to victims. A total of 148 individual community-based services and an additional seven territorial service providers were identified for contact across the 26 Nunavut communities. Of these, 91 took part in this survey.

While there may appear to be a number of social services in each community, it would be erroneous to assume that there are adequate, or even any, services dedicated to victimized people. There are few victim-dedicated services in the communities, especially outside of the capital, Iqaluit. Most community-based services are run by volunteers or poorly paid, under-trained and over-worked staff. The overwhelming obstacles faced by these community service providers, especially in light of the high levels of victimization in Nunavut, are outlined in the body of the report. However, in general, problems in service delivery to victimized people are due to the absence of key elements to support victim service providers, such as leadership support and understanding of victims, infrastructure, and information, as well as the overall difficulties of working with victimized people.

Traditional Inuit approaches to victimization and contemporary informal services available to victimized individuals in Nunavut were investigated through an extensive consultation process and formed another branch of the research process. Respondents described a variety of traditional approaches to victimized individuals and include the expectation that women and girls, usually in arranged marriages, remain silent about the abuse they were suffering and try harder to obey and please their husbands, the avoidance of outright confrontation with violent individuals in an attempt to keep them calmer and maintain an atmosphere of respect within the group, traveling to another camp to seek safety, as well as subtle and/or direct counselling of the offending individual by elders, while avoiding shame and embarrassment to the person. Traditional approaches in Nunavut also included retaliation, sometimes after years, by the family of the victimized individual, and gossiping about both victims and offenders in an attempt to control violence in the group and ease the tension that arose from disruptive behaviour.

Through the consultations, respondents also identified contemporary informal approaches to victimization. The less constructive approaches include denial that there is a problem with interpersonal violence, keeping personal victimization experiences secret, focusing on keeping the family physically together at all costs, believing that victimized persons deserve the abuse they receive because of a personal shortcoming, using chemical and process addictions (behavioural addictions such as gambling), violent behaviour, criminal activity and suicide to cope with feelings of fear, rage and shame, and developing a range of post traumatic stress symptoms.

The more positive approaches reported include spending as much time as possible on the land, engaging in traditional and contemporary crafts and cultural expressions such as drum dancing, individuals opening their homes to victimized individuals, staying with relatives during violent episodes in one’s own home, becoming involved in community sports, and focusing on a religious and/or spiritual approach to life.

Victim services programs in other non-Nunavut, remote, Aboriginal regions of northern and southern Canada, and in other circumpolar regions, were consulted in order to gain insight into service delivery approaches and “best practices” that might prove useful in Nunavut. A total of 43 individuals working in a variety of victim services programs were consulted by phone, in person, by email and fax. Effective programming and “best practices” include:

• the establishment of a community development approach to service delivery which focuses on community involvement and inclusion, relationship building, community ownership, agency cooperation, consensual decision making and universal awareness about community social problems;
• the combining of various services, such as emergency shelter, counselling and court preparation;
• the provision, through auxiliary RCMP constables, of immediate assistance to victimized individuals;
• the provision of multi-faceted, accessible practical services to victimized women;
• the development of short- and long-term recovery programs for victimized individuals;
• the employment of community-based victim services paraprofessionals;
• the establishment of programs whose purpose is the support of victimized individuals involved in restorative justice procedures; and,
• the development of progressive legislation that protects victims and increases the choices available to them.

As a result of these consultative research tasks, and a review of pertinent documentation and literature in the area of victimization in remote, Aboriginal regions, a series of key recommendations were developed in the areas of training, support and recovery for existing service providers, training, support and recovery for communities, leadership, legislation, judicial and correctional systems, and victim services programs.

Northwest Territories: Findings

An inventory of formal services available in the Northwest Territories was undertaken to explore the nature and extent of formally structured social services available to victims of crime in that territory. The inventory of all territorial services, even those whose mandate is not specifically service to victims, identified 141 service providers from all 30 NWT communities for contact. Of this total, responses were received from 111 territorial service providers.

Traditional approaches to victimization and contemporary informal services available to victimized individuals in NWT were investigated through an extensive consultation process and formed another branch of the research process. In this regard responses indicate there are a variety of opinions regarding the extent to which the victimized people of NWT were supported and assisted in traditional times. There is also a variety of opinions regarding what the impetus for that support was, or the form that it took.

Contemporary informal approaches to victimization incorporate both positive and less constructive approaches. The less constructive approaches reflect a general lack of community support for the victim through shunning, blaming and shaming the victim. In addition, some respondents indicated that support and assistance given to victims is dependent on their place within the community power hierarchy. That is, victimized individuals belonging to the least powerful families are more likely to be blamed, shunned and intimidated than victims belonging to the more powerful families in communities. In addition, respondents noted that shelters and other victim focussed programs are often accused of “breaking up families” and attempts to start new shelters or programs are often strongly opposed by powerful community members. Some respondents note also that the victim, when they do access the service, can be turned away.

Respondents also spoke about some positive contemporary approaches to victimization. In smaller communities, where the victim is pressured to drop charges, or is otherwise threatened, victim supporters assist the victim to move permanently to a larger town in the region, saving them from the harassment of the community and the perpetrator’s family. This also allows them greater access to services such as counselling, housing, employment and education.

Respondents also noted that they are seeing a shift in attitude in the larger centres (Yellowknife, Hay River, Inuvik, Fort Smith and Fort Simpson), one that emphasizes support to victims. Women’s shelters, and other victim service providers, have come together to raise public awareness at the local level and have started some support groups for abused women. In some towns, people are volunteering to work with programs which assist victimized community members. There are more conferences and workshops on victim issues, and the territorial government recently held a major conference on the social conditions in the NWT (the “Social Agenda Conference” held in Hay River in June 2001).

As a result of these consultative research tasks, and a review of pertinent documentation and literature in the area of victimization in remote, Aboriginal regions, a series of recommendations were developed in the areas of victim assistance programs, public education and community building, training and healing for service providers, community-based programs, legislation, judicial support, and leadership.

Yukon Territory: Findings 

The Yukon Territory has a highly centralized population, with 74% living in and around the capital city, Whitehorse. There are a total of 17 serviced communities and all but one are on the road system. An inventory of formal Yukon services was undertaken in the 17 communities to explore the nature and extent of formally structured social services available to victims of crime in the Yukon Territory. For the purposes of this research a total of 42 people at 24 universally available services (based in Whitehorse) and 12 community-based victim services (in outlying communities) were interviewed.

Traditional approaches to victimization and contemporary informal services available to victims in the Yukon were investigated through an extensive consultation process and formed another branch of the research process. Most respondents believe that victims of spousal, physical or sexual assault in the distant past did not receive very much personalized support or validation. A common response is that women and children simply “endured it.” However, these respondents note that in pre-colonial times there were more built-in coping mechanisms within the culture that, in themselves, kept people more connected to each other, and therefore safer. Respondents also noted that gender specific gatherings took place as well as mediation.

Contemporary informal approaches to victimization incorporate both positive and less constructive approaches. The less constructive approaches include silence within the community. Some towns may have a loose network of informal support, but not a great deal is known about it outside of the community. Attempts are being made to build on those informal support networks and increase the viability of more formal services by focusing on community inter-agency cooperation and relationship building.

Most respondents felt that, compared with other Canadian regions, particularly northern jurisdictions, the Yukon Territory has a well developed continuum of professional services for victimized people. They note the increasing variety of specialized services for victimized individuals, the effective partnerships between agencies, the growing ability of service providers to address long-term trauma issues and the high volume of work being done by all agencies offering services to victims. Some respondents believe they are seeing the results of these efforts in greater sobriety, increased community awareness and increasing participation in healing events, particularly those based on Aboriginal healing beliefs. Although there is no definitive way to prove it, it may be that lower rates of reported spousal assault, sexual assault and child abuse are the result of these services and interventions.

However, all respondents believe that there are still gaps, barriers and needs in the area of service provision to victimized individuals, families and communities. These challenges, as reported by respondents, include limited community support, limited leadership support, resource shortfalls, information gaps, and the judicial system.

General Recommendations 

Service providers across the northern territories were eager to take part in this study and provide information on the levels, the dynamics and the results of victimization in their communities. They also provided valuable insight and offered a wide variety of recommendations into what needs to be done.

The recommendations offered were grounded in the need for program support, and this is the paper’s major recommendation as well. While the exact nature of the support required varies across each territory, they do share commonalities: extensive training, increased public awareness and education campaigns, increased support to networks, support through legislation, policy and the criminal justice system, as well as increased support to community-based resources.

Grounded in a community development model of understanding the issues, the author concludes that many services in the north have adopted a holistic approach and that the service providers are experts in what needs to be done; what they need is more support to do it.

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