Peer - Facilitated Support Groups for Abused Women

How widespread is woman abuse?
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It is estimated that at least one in eight Canadian women is assaulted by her husband or live-in male partner,¹ and she is 13 times more likely to be abused in her home than by a stranger on the streets.² In Canada during 1990, an average of two women were killed by their male partners each week.³

The consequences of woman abuse
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When women are isolated and constantly criticized, they often feel trapped, blamed for the abuse, and mixed up and crazy. They may have difficulty separating their needs from the needs of others. When there are no interventions or supports, the effects of abuse on women can include: a general feeling of powerlessness; depression and thoughts of suicide; chronic stress and anxiety; shame and low self-esteem; rage against themselves, and others; and injury and death.

Children who witness their mothers being abused also exhibit many of the same effects, and they are at high risk of being abused by the batterer themselves.

Purpose of groups for battered women
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• To reduce isolation and meet other women who share a common experience;

• To exchange information, practical help and emotional support. To explore alternatives for action and discover coping strategies;

• To understand the power and control that are at the root of battering. To see how battered women's experiences connect with women's experiences in general, and learn what actions women can take to change the situation;

• To explore individual self-image and gain confidence. With the encouragement and support of group members, and help to identify their own needs and values, women can learn to appreciate their own strengths and accomplishments.

Role of facilitators
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• To work in pairs (co-facilitate) to model an equal and co-operative working relationship.

• To provide a warm, accepting, informal atmosphere.

• To open a discussion about guidelines for the group. These should include confidentiality, and an attempt to be non-judgmental.

• To maintain guidelines by drawing attention to behaviour that compromises emotional or physical safety.

• To draw attention to the collective experiences women share and to encourage women to work with emerging common themes.

• To encourage women to share what they know with each other and to provide or find information that group members need.

• To administer the group's finances and be accountable to the parent organization.

Preparing for group co-facilitation
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The parent organization should either provide training for facilitators, or make sure that they have adequate training. For example, Battered Women's Support Services of Vancouver provides 80 hours of in-class training and a three-month practicum followed by ongoing training sessions.

Who should facilitate groups?
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Facilitators must be screened for personal readiness. Women who have had personal experiences of abuse must have identified the effects of violence on their lives. They must also have healed sufficiently to be able to distance themselves to some degree from their personal experiences. Women who have not been battered need to understand the commonalities in all women's lives and the risk of being abused that all women face.
    Peer facilitators model equality, but it is also essential that they be paid (an honorarium) whenever possible, in recognition of the high level of training, responsibility, commitment and facilitation skills required.

What must facilitators learn?
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• To see themselves as engaged in a common struggle together with women in the group; not to tell women what to do, or presume to be an expert on participants' situations.

• To understand the dynamics of power and control in abusive relationships and the psychological impact of abuse on women and children.

• To recognize the social context and history of women's oppression, and to work as facilitators in a way that does not repeat the hierarchy and domination that is part of oppression and battering.

• To be able to link women's oppression to other oppression, for example, discrimination based on race, social class, and sexual orientation.

• To develop good listening, peer counselling and group facilitation skills. To recognize appropriate limitations to their role as support provider and understand that their role is not that of rescuer.

• To develop crisis intervention skills, including suicide intervention skills.

Establishing groups structures
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The support group may be structured as a closed group or as a continuous entry group. A closed group runs for a specific number of weeks, does not admit new members after the first few sessions and uses the same facilitators throughout. A program is developed around the members' needs.
    A continuous entry group may run for a specific number of weeks or be ongoing. Membership fluctuates as women may join or leave the group at any time. Each session may feature a predetermined topic for discussion or sessions may be left open to address the individual needs of participants. Different facilitators may be used throughout the program.

Examples of support groups
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Following are examples of actual support groups that meet different needs.

•   Drop-in support groups

•   Ten-week support groups

•  Making changes workshops

•  Battered lesbians support groups

• Self-education workshops

Shared facilitation
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Often at the end of a peer-facilitated program, when women know and trust each other, members are better able to share facilitation responsibilities. They may decide to continue meeting as a self-help/mutual aid group because they have benefited from the close bonds formed with the other members. Anyone can start the meeting, initiate support, provide insight and offer suggestions at any time. Once members understand and appreciate how each woman in the group participates, this kind of facilitation allows for greater ease. Discussions flow easily and giving and receiving support is equally shared at each meeting; insights and suggestions can be more spontaneous. The group works as a unit.

Philosophy for groups
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The peer-led model for support groups is based on the principle of reciprocity. Women are the experts on their own situation, and with mutual support and shared information, they can take charge of their lives.
    Facilitators and members agree to the following guidelines: to give advice only if it is requested, and not when they think it is needed; to help women discover what they are feeling, not to judge these feelings or make the feelings go away; and to ensure that each woman's safety is of primary importance. A woman is not encouraged to make changes in her life that could place her at increased risk.

    Women who need help can call a local crisis or distress line, a shelter or transition house, a women's centre, the police department, a hospital, or provincial victims' information line.

Notes
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1. Linda MacLeod, Battered But Not Beaten: Preventing Wife Battering in Canada. Ottawa: Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, 1987.

 
2. Male Violence Against Women: The Brutal Face of Inequality. A Brief to the House of Commons Subcommittee on the Status of Women, February 13, 1991. Ottawa: Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, 1991.

 
3. Ibid

 
4. In Our Best Interest: A Process for Personal and Social Change. 1987. Minnesota Program Development, 206 West Fourth Street, Duluth, MN, 55806, Phone: 218-722-2781. Manual and two videos.

NiCarthy, Ginny; Merriam, Karen and Coffman, Sandra. Talking it Out: A Guide to Groups for Abused Women. Seattle, Washington 98111 Seal Press, 1984.

Sinclair, Deborah. Understanding Wife Assault: A Training Manual for Counsellors and Advocates, 1985. Available from Ontario Government Bookstore, Publication Services Section, 880 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario M7A 1N8 Phone: 1-800-268-7540.

Helping Ourselves: A Handbook for Women Starting Groups, The Women's Press, 229 College Street, Suite 204, Toronto, 1985. Originally published by the Women's Counselling Referral and Education Centre (WCREC).

One Hit Leads To Another (15-minute video). The Family Violence Film and Video Collection, National Film Board. Produced by Victoria Women's Transition House, 1990.

Violence Breeds Violence: Awareness Guide to Conjugal Violence, Fédération de ressources d'hébergement pour femmes violentées et en difficulté du Québec, 1992. Available for $15.00 from CP. 67, Succ. Longueuil, Longueuil (Québec) J4K 4X8.

Lawyer, Linda. Changing Places: From Facilitator to Mutual Support: A Guide for Women's Mutual Support Groups, 1989. Available for $20.00 plus applicable taxes from the YWCA, 580 Burrard Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 2K9.

This fact sheet was prepared by Janet Freeman and Karen Larcombe of the Vancouver Battered Women's Support Services.

The contribution of the following individuals is gratefully acknowledged: Valerie Davis, Program Against Abuse, Community Resource Centre of Goulbourn, Kanata and West Carleton, Ontario; Joan Gillespie and Donna Denham, Family Violence Program, Canadian Council on Social Development, Ottawa; Deborah Prieur, Women's Research Centre, Vancouver; Dianne Prud'homme, Regroupement provincial des maisons d'hébergement et de transition pour femmes victimes de violence, Montréal.
 

For further information on wife abuse or on other family violence issues, contact: National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, Family Violence Prevention Unit, Social Service Programs Branch, Health and Welfare Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, KlA 1B5 or call 1-800-267-1291. For TDD users, call 1-800-561-5643.