Transcript Document

Family Violence & Animal Abuse
in Rural Communities
Presentation by:
Dr. Deborah Doherty and Dr. Jennie Hornosty
Cruelty/Crime Connection:
Breaking the Chain Conference
October 8-9, 2009
Edmonton, Alberta
Based on a research study funded
by the Canada Firearms Centre
Welcome
Purpose of the Presentation
• Provide background to research on the link
between family violence & animal abuse
• Discuss research findings – particularly some
unique risks in rural communities
• Explore ways to translate research into action
• Reflect on policy implications
Research Team
• Co-principal Researchers
– Deborah Doherty, Ph.D., Executive Director, Public Legal
Education and Information Service of NB
– Jennie Hornosty, Ph.D., Professor, Sociology Department,
University of New Brunswick
• Other Research Team Members
– Melissa St. Pierre, Kerri Gibson, Amy Cote, Sonya Smith, Janice
Fuller, Brenda Norton, Emily Bell, (Research Assistants)
– NB and PEI Research Partners – transition houses, outreach,
police, victim services, Chief Firearms Office, SPCA, and others
Background to Research
• Relatively few studies about family
violence in rural areas
• Findings from previous research:
• Structural barriers to leaving abuse
• Rural women spoke of concerns for pets and
farm animals and reluctance to leave
• Firearms used as a means of intimidation and
control
Research Objectives
• Examine the prevalence and status of firearms
in situations of family violence
• Examine the impact of firearms on abused
women’s sense of fear and decision-making
• Examine the extent and affect of pet abuse in
family violence situations
• Provide recommendations for improving
programs and services of rural women
Methodology
• Informed by feminist and participatory action
research methods
• Qualitative Data Sources
• Focus groups with women, service providers and
community
• Semi-structured interviews with women and service
providers
• Quantitative Data Collection
• Survey questionnaire for women entering transition houses
in New Brunswick & Prince Edward Island and using
Victim Services in PEI
Data Collected
• 391 surveys collected over a 12 month period
(November 2005 - December 2006)
• 72 participants interviewed or participated in
focus groups
– 7 focus groups – both provinces (English & French
communities in New Brunswick)
– 11 interviews with abused women from rural
communities – both provinces (English & French in New
Brunswick)
– 3 interviews with service providers (New Brunswick)
General Characteristics of
Survey Participants (n=283)
• 82% from New Brunswick; 18% from PEI
• 35% were Francophone women
• Approximately 7% were Aboriginal women
• Women ranged in ages 16 – 75 years (nearly half between
ages 31 – 45)
• 57% had children accompanying them
• 78% lived in rural communities
• 71% unemployed, 58% were receiving social
assistance, while 27% had no income
• 82% experienced two/more types of abuse
• 63% abused by a common-law partner
• 51% had two or more admissions to a shelter
• 66% had left their partners on at least two
occasions
Pets and Family Violence
• 70% of all households in the study had pets or farm
animals (of these 8% had farm animals)
• 45% of households with pets said partner
deliberately threatened to harm pet(s) or farm
animal(s) to control them, and
• 41% said their partner definitely killed/harmed pets
• 39% of the women with pets had reason to believe the
pet was harmed but did not know for sure
Abused Women
Concerned for their Animals
“At that time I had a mother, a foal, and I had 3 other horses
in the field… he went after [my horse] with a broom, made it
so that she was head shy. This is what they do. It’s not just
the abuse with a weapon, it’s the mental abuse …then
there’s no help for people like me that has the pets…they
mean everything to you. They’re not just something that
you can just throw away and put down.” (Abused woman)
“I’d beg him to stop [harming the hamsters] and I’d just get a
slap for it, so…eventually I’d just cover my face so I
couldn’t see or hear it, and, I had to ignore it…it was either
that or, god knows what would have happened to me.” (Abused
woman)
Abuse Seen as Another
Form of Control
Interviews and focus groups, revealed the nature of that control….
“It was always with the animals that he…got rough and
extremely violent. Basically it was controlling me through
my animals is what it was because if I did something wrong
he’d take it out on like kittens that are 4 months old. He
would hit them and kick them. If I did something he didn’t
like, boom to the cat…He ended up killing one.” (Abused
woman)
“When they (the dogs) did things he’d kick them until they
were crying. And if I went over to comfort them, he wouldn’t
let me, and I’d have to go out, and I would cry, and I
couldn’t stand it….” (Abused woman)
Children Often Aware of
Animal Abuse
• 57% of the households with pets had children
• 24% of the households with children said the
children were aware the animals were harmed
or threatened
[Note: In interviews and focus groups we learned
that abusers often tell the children they will
harm the pet if the mother leaves – so children
will beg mom to stay – and blame her.]
Firearms and Animal Abuse
• 27% of all women with pets were
concerned firearms had been used to kill
their pet/animal
• 15% said firearms were actually used or
believe to be used
“When I was in the hospital, he shot her (my dog) ...he took
her back in the woods and gave her a piece of meat and
shot her. My father had to tell me a few days later.”
(Abused Woman)
Presence of Firearms Makes
Women More Fearful Generally
• 25% of all women had firearms in household
(n=68) – the majority were long guns
• 87% of these women lived in rural areas
• 66% said they were more fearful for their
safety & well-being because of the firearms
• 70% of those said presence of firearms
affected their decision to disclose or seek help
Threats Can be Direct or Indirect
“If you wanted to get up and go to the bathroom and he was wanting
to talk to you, then you had to sit there because he would have the
gun in his hands and he’d put it against your head and pull the
trigger…you know…there were no bullets in it, but at the time you
didn’t know… you didn’t know if they were in there or not.” (abused
woman)
“It was a loaded gun all the time…There was one time he wanted sex
and I said no I didn’t want to...and he held the gun to my head that
was loaded, to my head, and raped me.” (abused woman)
“He doesn’t have to threaten to kill her, all he has to do is look over at
the bed and she knows there is rifle underneath and that she had
better do what he says.” (focus group participant)
In our Study, 79% of Households with
Firearms had Pets/Farm Animals
Of these…
• 54% said partner had threatened to harm the animal(s)
• Of those, 41% said partner definitely harmed or killed
their pet and 50% believed partner had harmed their pet
• 64% of the households that had pets and firearms were
concerned firearms may have been used to kill a pet
• 31% said firearms were used or they had reason to believe
they were used
• 39% of households with pets and firearms said the
children were aware of the abuse (compared to 24% in
homes without firearms)
Link Between Animal Abuse & Family
Violence NOT Widely Understood
“She loved her pets, like, she had a house cat and a dog…he
would always threaten to kill [her dog] if she left. And,
he would describe the dog’s death very violently, and, you
know, it was really graphic. I remember thinking, “Oh
my word, like, that is astounding”. I never thought of
animals as being as part of that situation of abuse.”
(Service provider in focus group)
“Even the ones that understand about women and kids are
rarely concerned about pets. They say “oh it’s an animal.
It’s ok, it will be fine” Because … nobody wants to hurt
an animal - no normal person would want to hurt an
animal - so you don’t think anyone else would.” (abused
woman)
High Tolerance of Firearms Misuse People tend to minimize risks
Interviews and focus groups - perception of firearms not linked to risk….
• Long proud tradition of hunting - most people who have
firearms ARE law abiding and do not abuse their families
• Prevalence and legitimate use fosters perception that firearms
are ONLY used for peaceful purposes – not seen as weapons
“…the lack of attention to the safety of abused women is partly
explained by the high tolerance to firearms abuse in rural homes –
even by professionals.” (Focus group participant)
• Many rural folk hold cavalier attitudes to gun storage, etc.
• Abused women fear police might not remove or find ALL the
guns - and family or friends would just loan another one
Yet Concern for Pets Affects
Decision to Seek Help
• 27% of the women in the study delayed getting
help because of concern for animal’s safety
• 44% of women said that threats to harm pets
affected their help seeking behaviour
• 60% said it affected them where partner
actually harmed or killed animal
Women told us….
Interviews and focus groups put a face to the
concerns/fears:
“I knew I was in for it that evening when I got
home…but I had to go because I had to feed
the horses.” (Abused woman)
“…my dog was like my third child and I was
not about to leave without him.”
(Abused woman)
Reluctance to Seek Help Greater in
Presence of Firearms
• In households with firearms
– 53% of the women said their decision to leave was
affected when they believed partner harmed pet
– 69% affected when they had concerns that
firearms might be used
– 40% were affected when firearms had been used
been used or believed to be used
Other Reasons Abused Women
Do Not Take Pets and Leave
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Partner previously harmed or killed a pet
No place to take pets and/or no transportation
Police won’t always take pets
No money to put pet in kennel
Abuse is happening to large animal
Fear of retaliation or harm to self or children
Pleas of children to stay for sake of the pets
The Role of Community –
A Need for Awareness
From a community perspective we heard “Everybody pretty well knows in a small rural area who’s
getting beaten, where you’re going to be on a Saturday
night, everybody knows that. But still, that sense of pride
is there. They won’t reach out for help…” (Focus group
participant)
From the abused woman’s perspective we heard “They could see me with bruises…they seen him take me
and pin me against [the wall] and they seen him take me
and literally choke me so the next day his hand print was
bruised in my neck, and they still refused to help me…they
said, “You’re a big girl. If you want out, you leave.”
(Abused woman)
Recommendations Relating to Family
Violence and Animal Abuse
Specific suggestions about addressing the link between family violence
and abuse of pets and farm animals include:
• Create a public awareness education campaign about pet abuse
and the risks associated with family violence and firearms
• Ensure that questions about pet-farm animal abuse are included
on in-take forms and risk assessments
• Develop a safe haven program for pets and farm animals
• Provide stronger legal protections for the animals of victims of
family violence
• Link animal abuse to other forms of abuse such as child abuse and
senior abuse and firearms victimization
Translating Research into Action
Safer Families…Safer Communities
• Worked with a rural community –
Miramichi - to brainstorm the findings
and decide how best to share them with
the public
• Selected FIVE Themes and a campaign
name – Safer Families…Safer
Communities
• Extracted numerous unique personal and
community safety messages from the
research
• Created draft education products which
were reviewed, revised, rewritten,
translated, and reviewed again – available
on web: www.legal-info-legale.nb.ca
Safer Families…Safer Communities
Theme #3
Know the Link Between the Abuse
of People and the Abuse of Animals
• When someone hurts an animal, they may
be hurting others in their family too. Pets
and farm animals are used as part of the
cycle of violence
• Victims may delay getting help for fear
their partner will harm or kill their pet –
and children ARE witnessing this abuse
• We need interagency awareness and
collaboration – police, child welfare, vets
& animal welfare, courts
• Community can participate in safe shelter
programs for the animals of victims of
abuse
Safer Families…Safer Communities
Action Outcome: Formed a provincial committee that has set up a
program to shelter the animals of abused women.
Pets in Transition: Providing Shelter for Animals Affected By
Family Violence
Action Research –
Helping Shape the Dialogue
Presentations:
• NB Advisory Council on the Status of Women (4
“lunch & learn” sessions)
• Women’s Issues Branch
• Domestic Violence Court – Specialized Team
(Moncton New Brunswick)
• Many invited academic national and
international presentations
• Canadian Federation of University Women
• Atlantic Crime Prevention and Safer
Communities
Helping Shape the Dialogue – con’t
• New Brunswick Chiefs of Police Annual Meeting
• Provincial Partners in Action – annual meeting of
family violence networks across NB
• Rotary Club – Miramichi
• National Domestic Homicide Prevention
Conference – London, Ontario
• Public Legal Education Association of Canada – St
John’s, NL
Encouraging Reflection and Change
• Research promoted in RCMP Gazette, Latham
Foundation, American Humane Association, NB
Vets and NB Nurses Association Newsletters
• Changes in policy resulting from research and
public awareness campaign …police policies re
firearm removal and taking pets to safety
•
• Chief Firearms Office in NB will now ask
questions about pets during an investigation
For Further Information
Contact:
Dr. Deborah Doherty
[email protected]
or
Dr Jennie Hornosty
[email protected]