BACKGROUND STATEMENT

The Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) is a multi-agency, community-government partnership, coordinated by the Women’s Policy Office, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Its mandate is to seek long-term solutions to the problems of violence experienced by women, children, the elderly and other vulnerable groups. The VPI builds upon the former Provincial Strategy Against Violence. This Strategy identified a need for various levels of training in the public services and in the community. This training module was prepared to address the following needs identified in the Strategy:

• Values clarification and analysis on the role individuals and society play in the acceptance of violence;
• Education and awareness of the causes of violence;
• The types of abuse;
• The incidence of violence.

This module serves as a pre-cursor to further assessment, information and education across government departments on policies and policies and protocols relating to service provision for victims.

This Training Program is based on the following principles:

• Everyone has a right to live free of violence;
• Violence is a social problem, and not merely a personal problem, which affects women, men, children and the community as a whole;
• Violence and the threat of violence, deprives many people of the potential to contribute fully to society;
• Violence is a behavioural choice, resulting from an imbalance of power and is a crime punishable by law;
• People will accept help when they are ready. The choice not to accept help must be accepted;
• The responsibility for violence prevention is shared by individuals, families, communities and government;
• Prevention means addressing the social roots of violence, not just the symptoms;
• Education is a pre-requisite to prevention.

This training will increase the sensitivity and awareness of participants to the factors contributing to violence, and the impact of violence on vulnerable or "at risk" populations; women, children, the elderly and other vulnerable groups.

It will:

• Assist participants examine attitudes, values, beliefs that support violence in our society;
• Provide information (facts and causes) on different forms of violence;
• Provide, through group discussion, an empowering and reflective training environment which encourages personal insight into the experiences of survivors of violence;
• Include anecdotal, statistical and theoretical information;
• Promote an inter-agency approach to government and community violence prevention services.

It is recommended that this training be delivered by a female and male facilitators, whenever possible. This gender balancing provides opportunities for modeling appropriate conflict resolution while respecting gender difference in perspective and approach.

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

Specifically, by the end of the workshop, participants will:

1. Increase awareness of how societal pressures are underlying factors in power imbalances and how this contributes to violence towards women, children, people with disabilities, the elderly and other "at risk" groups;
2. Increase understanding and awareness of violence as a societal problem rather than an individual, family or women’s issue by exploring/challenging the implications of gender stereotyping, intergenerational abuse patterns, societal myths and power imbalances;
3. Explore personal attitudes towards those who are likely to be vulnerable to violence.

1. Identify (at risk) groups who are more likely to be vulnerable to violence; women, children, the elderly, and those who experience violence because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability;
2. Identify potential indicators of abuse for each group;
3. Increase their understanding of the facts, causes and dynamics of domestic, family and relations violence;
4. Identify the importance of respect for each client’s self determination;
5. Identify various methods of victimization: emotional, physical, sexual, economic and psychological.

1. Acknowledge and explore the different types of power that each person, group or agency brings and uses when interacting with others, particularly as it affects violence survivors;
2. Identify the impact of personal power in providing services to violence survivors;
3. Identify personal action plans (immediate/ two weeks/ six months).