Lifelines: Culture, Spirituality, And Family Violence

Lifelines Culture, Spirituality, and Family Violence This page intentionally left blank Lifelines Culture, Spirituality, and Family V i o l e n c e UNDERSTANDING THE CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF WOMEN WHO HAVE E X P E R I E N C E D A B U S E Reinhild Boehm Judith Golec Ruth Krahn Dianne Smyth T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F A L B E R T A PRESS Published by The University of Alberta Press Ring House 2 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E2 Copyright © The University of Alberta Press 1999 ISBN 0-88864-312-8 Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Main entry under title: Lifelines ISBN 0-88864-312-8 i. Victims of family violence—Services for—Canada. 2. Victims of family violence— Counseling of—Canada. 3. Abused wives—Canada—Case studies. 4. Abused wives— Counseling of—Canada. I. Boehm, Reinhild, 1944— HV6626.23.C3L53 1999 362.82^2 C98-9IIII2-I All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any forms or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Printed on acid-free paper. °° Printed by Hignell Printing Ltd., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Printed and bound in Canada. Financial assistance for the research for Lifelines provided by Department of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women Canada. The University of Alberta Press gratefully acknowledges the support received for its publishing program from The Canada Council for the Arts. In addition, we also gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program for our publishing activities. Canada THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS SINCE 1957 LE CONSEIL DES ARTS DU CANADA DEPUIS 1957 To Gita Das whose ideas, energy, and passion gave birth to this book This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface 1 xi Acknowledgments Lifelines' Voices xv xvii THE BEGINNING... i UNDERSTANDING THE NEEDS OF ABUSED WOMEN: The Missing Link 4 The Women's Movement Aboriginal Inspiration 6 8 Women's Shelters in Transition Bridging the Secular and the Spiritual 2 3 Spirituality 9 10 THE WOMEN'S STORIES: Where Does Strength Come From? 13 WOMEN WHO WROTE THEIR STORIES 15 In Answer to Psalms 55 Why Is God White? Escape My Beautiful Golden Bones 25 27 30 38 From Fit to Free 43 WOMEN WHO TOLD THEIR STORIES Loss and Ritual Learning to Cry 46 49 56 The Violation of the Veil Spiritual Awakening STRENGTH COMES FROM WITHIN 3 VOICES OF WOMEN OF FAITH: Personal Views on the Diversity of Culture, Religion, and Background in Canada Otter Woman Speaks Buddhism for Monday, for Tuesday, for Wednesday... From the Pulpit-A Word or Two on Christianity Views of a Hindu Woman A Woman as Rabbi-A Message of Hope A Voice From the Muslim Community W O M E N OF FAITH 4 CONVERSATIONS WITH FRONT-LINE WORKERS: The Issue of Family Violence as Seen by Individuals Who Work for Community Service Provi