Women’s council urges stiffer sentences for abusive men

SARA MINOGUE

The Qulliit Nunavut Status of Women Council, in a report that is squarely at odds with the views of some territorial MLAs, is calling for more recognition of violence against women in Nunavut and is urging judges to hand down stiffer sentences for men convicted of assaulting women.

The Qulliit Nunavut Status of Women Council has released the results of a study that began two years ago, when some members of the legislative assembly launched a debate on Nunavut’s shelter system for battered women and children.

In February 2002, Tunnuniq MLA Jobie Nutarak told the assembly that women in shelters were drinking and having affairs. He said that abusive husbands should have access to their wives in shelters.

Manitok Thompson, then the MLA for Rankin Inlet South-Whale Cove, and David Iqaqrialu, then representing Uqqummiut, said that shelters ignored Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit.

The recommendations in the new report contradict those suggestions.

What Inuit Women Need in Order to Deal with Abuse and Violence offers views and recommendations from 18 women across Nunavut. The report was designed to get a ground-level perspective from women who have experienced violence or who have seen it affect others.

One underlying problem the women identified is the lack of public recognition of violence at home, which prevents battered women from seeking help or talking about the problem with others.

“There is too much denial [and an] attitude that it’s happening to other people,” said one woman quoted in the report.

The women felt strongly that those who have survived abuse are best able to help other women in crisis, ranking ahead of counsellors and the RCMP.

They felt that elders “needed to adopt a more contemporary approach to woman abuse” in order to be helpful.

“I had elder parents, so to me that’s very important but… we have to take contemporary or modern ideas for healing to happen. It’s not the old way all the time now because our life is very different today,” said Madeline Qumuatuq, the president of the Qulliit Nunavut Status of Women Council.

Qumuatuq presented the report to the Nunavut Association of Municipalities at the organization’s general meeting in Pangnirtung last weekend.

“They’re the ones that really know what’s happening in the communities so I’m really hoping the actual municipalities will take the report and run with it,” she said.

That means recognizing that abuse is inexcusable, that women are not responsible for violence in their relationships, and that men as well as women need to address the problem.

The lack of counselling services for men is an important issue raised in the report. “I knew that was an issue but to see it come out on paper, I thought that was significant,” Qumuatuq said.

The report said the legal system should do more to spread the message that violence against women is wrong. Several women said that men who abused women received little more than a slap on the wrist from the RCMP.

“When my ex-partner was on probation [he was supposed] to be on ‘good behaviour,'” said one woman. “I called the probation officer two times but she didn’t do anything. The court system is screwed up here, especially if it involves women being abused.”

The women felt that RCMP officers “lacked sensitivity” and needed more training on the issues that abused women face.

Housing shortages, unemployment, and drug and alcohol abuse were cited as root causes of violence.

Carrie Elrick, who conducted the research and compiled the findings, acknowledges that the report is more of a “snapshot” than a full picture, but she believes it’s still relevant because “so many have been touched by violence.”

“This is not new news,” Elrick said. “Women in the communities… have been consulted many times. They’re ready for action. The problem is a lack of funding and resources to enable them to get that.”

Housing shortages, for instance, mean that “women literally have nowhere to go,” let alone the geographical distances that make it difficult to get very far away from an abusive spouse.

Shelters, Elrick noted, have traditionally been responsible for their own fundraising, but many shelters are understaffed and simply don’t have the resources to constantly seek new sources of funds.

Iqaluit teacher Charlotte Borg attended the presentation of the report to lobby for counsellors to work with children. Borg says she often sees children who are scared to leave shelters, and suggested hiring a teacher to work on site.

Health and Social Services Minister Levinia Brown received the report last Wednesday.

“Every day women suffer from violence,” said Brown, who specifically mentioned two Nunavut women who were killed recently in domestic altercations, including the recent homicide of a 22-year-old woman in Rankin Inlet.

“When I first heard about the Rankin Inlet incident I was numb for a few hours,” Brown said, as she fought back tears. “Pardon me, but the recent death in Rankin Inlet was my nephew’s daughter. I’m sure we’re all touched when there’s a death due to violence.”