Cultural Isolation:
Immigrant & Visible Minority Women at Risk of Violence

Funded by British Columbia’s Ministry of Community Service, through its Stopping the Violence program.

What was this project about?

Violence against visible minority and immigrant women exists in the Central Okanagan. Much of the violence is due to cultural isolation and inaccessibility to appropriate services. The focus of this project was to:

• Address the fears of women caught in violence or at “imminent risk” through educational and supportive workshops.
• Educate agencies on how best to help immigrant and visible minority women through cultural diversity training and providing access to services available in the woman’s first language.
• Create and distribute a culturally and language specific directory of resources available in the Central Okanagan.

What were the outcomes of this project?

Immigrant women can “have a plan” and know where to go.

Immigrant serving agencies have a readily available resource of how to access culturally and language appropriate services for their client when they are needed.

The Resource Guide is compact and easy to use for any woman in the community experiencing violence. This is important as there is often only a small “window of opportunity” when the woman is willing to receive help.

An added benefit is that much of the guide is also very helpful to men in the immigrant community—most of the resources have programs for men. The listings for languages available at other resources such as local pharmacies and VictimLink or the Court programs are very helpful to both men and women and knowing they have a right to bring their own translator (and/or how to get one) is reassuring during times of difficulty.

Both print and web-based versions of the Resource Guide have been created. Print versions are available to any interested organization, agency or individual. The information in this directory has been included in Community Information Database, by Kelowna Community Resources.

How was the community involved in this project?

More than four hundred people attended the twenty workshops and presentations delivered by ISCO staff and volunteers. This opened the doors of the service providers to the immigrant and visible minority women community.

Introductions were made and safe places established so the women would be less reluctant to seek out those agencies for help if/when it was needed. The women also learned to feel comfortable about exposing their needs and developed a willingness to be advocates for others in violent situations.

Through this project, networking was encouraged—both with the women and especially with the outreach workers and counsellors from the different agencies. This project created occasions for them to work together in providing information to the community about their services and regarding violence in the immigrant and visible minority women community. In times of budget cuts and everchanging programs, this co-operation is vital.

Has this project really made a difference?

Yes, we believe that it has. We also believe that changes will continue to result from this project.

For example, one workshop was attended by Superintendent Bill McKinnon of the Kelowna RCMP Detachment and Cary Berger, the co-ordinator of the RCMP Victim Services. As a result, it was agreed that a workshop will be delivered in March 2007 to train 200 Central Okanagan Police Officers as a continuation of this project. It will become part of the Annual Police Officer’s Training.

In the immigrant and visible minority specific sessions, it was amazing to watch the hope that rose in certain women as they learned that they would not lose their child or be deported if they reported the abuse of their husband.

Some of the stories the women told about abuse they have witnessed or experienced were heart-breaking but it was also inspiring to be able to watch the women absorb in the information shared.

One of the WEV training groups.

Having small groups provided a safe space for women to share their stories about themselves or their friends. ISCO arranged for representatives of several social agencies to present their services at those meetings and be available for questions / answers - both of which resulted in a major breakdown of barriers to accessing help in the future.

The feedback from the community and social agencies was equally positive and they recommended the same workshops be given to other agencies.

Many non-immigrant people requested ISCO to continue to organize diversity/anti-violence workshops for their agencies. Our intent is to make more people are aware about the violence against immigrant and visible minority women in the community and thus reduce the incidence of violence.