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Preventing Wife Battering: Towards a New Understanding

NCJ Number
149687
Author(s)
L MacLeod
Date Published
1989
Length
42 pages
Annotation
This report presents the findings of a Canadian "think- tank" that considered innovative approaches for addressing wife battering and the abuse of women in general.
Abstract
The discussion elaborates on the three major insights of the "think tank." First, the "think tank" argues that the hopes, plans, experiences, and feelings of women who are violated must be respected. Those committed to stopping the violence can give women added tools, including information and encouragement, to create personal solutions. Service- providers and the community should be their partners, facilitating their choices, but should not erode women's ability or right to make choices. A second major insight is that all women share a common ground with women who have been battered; this provides energy for change. Women must understand violence in terms of their experiences of being violated by men, even if such violations do not involve physical abuse. A third major insight is that to reduce violence against women and to obviate the violation of women and men in Canadian society, Canadians must open themselves to changes in their personal and public lives. Through society's institutions, as well as through personal interactions, Canadians must lessen the separation between the private and public spheres of their lives. This report discusses the implications and possible strategies that flow from these major insights. 9 endnotes, appended list of "think tank" participants, and appended proposal to the Federal Government regarding its action on family violence