Family Violence and the Women's Movement

Men's Rights and Feminist Advocacy in Canadian Domestic Violence Policy Arenas

“…It has secured its sanity in the face of hostile threats (Dilorio & Nusbaumer, 1993). It has reshaped its rhetoric to fit the contours of bureaucratic and public communication (Eisenstein, 1996;Walker, 1990;Weldon, 2002). It has creatively confronted and incorporated methods and findings that challenge gender-specific analyses of domestic violence (Anderson, 2005, Johnson, 2006Mann, 2000;Miller, 2006;Potter, 2006;Schwartz, 2005).…”

“…Status of Women Canada (hereafter Status of Women) was founded in 1973 in the wake of the 1967 Royal Commission on the Status of Women. Operating at federal and provincial-territorial levels in cooperation with women's directorates and ministries, it brings together paid and volunteer researchers and service providers across a range of women's organizations with the official mandate to monitor and promote the social, economic, and political advancement of women (Dobrowolsky & Jenson, 2004;Morrow et al, 2004;Shaw & Andrew, 2005;Walker, 1990;Weldon, 2002). Although it is not officially feminist, this "women's policy machinery" (Eisenstein 1996, p. 43) is a key site through which a broad range of feminist and feministsympathetic individuals and groups network and strategize to enhance supports for women in need, conduct research, inform the public, and pressure government on women's issues.…”

“…Building on this foundation, again in cooperation with other progressive and women-oriented groups, Status of Women succeeded in locating violence against women and children as a key focus within the 1988 federal Family Violence Initiative (FVI) (Morrow et al, 2004;Shaw & Andrew, 2005;Walker, 1990;Weldon, 2002). This broad-based multiagency coordinating and funding initiative aims to prevent all forms of intimate violence through multilevel partnerships that link federal and provincial-territorial agencies with a broad range of civil society groups (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2006).…”

“…They argue that women are equally or indeed more violent in domestic contexts than men, and that abused women shelters, restraining orders, antistalking laws, risk assessment tools, and other feminist-supported anti-domestic violence interventions promote hatred of and bias against men. In Canada, these claims coincide with demands that the government stop funding Status of Women Canada, the quasi-governmental agency established in the early 1970s to monitor and promote the advancement of women at federal, provincial-territorial, and international levels (Dobrowolsky & Jenson, 2004;Morrow, Hankivsky, & Varcoe, 2004;Shaw & Andrew, 2005;Walker, 1990;Weldon, 2002).…”

Backlash or Equality?

“…Feminist perspectives and debates have continued to shape domestic violence policy in Canada throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This was facilitated by feminism's somewhat uncomfortable entrance into "relations of ruling" through the creation of Status of Women (Walker, 1990; also see Mann, 2007;Smith, 1999). 1 With a representative voice in the Canadian government, one common but controversial theme across feminist discourses is the need for appropriate and strong criminal justice sanctions.…”