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a10 economist suntribune august 2 1989 abuse program helps victims cope with anger v5 sahadimerman correspondent youre in a fast food restaurant enjoying your milkshake you look up to see a child in a high chair repeatedly being hit the louder the child cries the harder the adult hits you bring your friends attention to this you both feel horrified and angry your gut reaction is to walk over to the adult and stop the hitting but you remain glued to your seat you ask one another what should we do in november 1985 ontarios child and family services act cfsa was proclaimed includ ed in the act is the message that each one of us has the respon sibility for the welfare of children your bank savings account are you getting the full story jl balance and convenience fily eligible for your rrsp or rrif rates that are sure to interest you gall us now for todays yield financial centre open store hours eatons second floor markville centre markham 4791922 4 iaurentian financial services maiufttl in lttirrntun fundi maiuftttm inc dl uffrml in itwimfu ml in 1986 an ontario ministry of community and social services booklet entitled reporting child abuse said that the act places special reporting responsibility on professionals where work in volves children however it states clearly that members of the public also have ah obligation to report promptly to a childrens aid society if they believe that a child is or may be in need of protection in 1980 the childrens aid society received 16 reports of child sexual abuse in york region in 1988 that number jumped to 244 why the increase barbara zapf coordinator of child abuse resources at the childrens aid society for york region is not sure that there is an actual increase in abuse she assumes that the increased number of reports may be due to the public professionals includ ed becoming more tuned into it and streetproofing is helping young children come forward to disclose kim harper executive direc tor of the york region abuse program and chairperson of the york region committee on abuse and assault agrees with this assumption she says studies have recently shown that abuse has been going on forever but the reports are steadily increasing the com munity seems to be taking a stand zapf is not sure that she would advocate a person witnessing child abuse to personally become involved for instance if the abusive adult seems much stronger than the witness the in- tervenor stands a chance of get ting hurt herself she also runs the risk of increasing the abusive adults anger towards the child instead she feels more comfor table in recommending that the onlooker immediately notify the police one way of identifying the a poster pumisned oy tne york region abuse program makes a graphic statement about the young age of some sexually abused chidren adult and child would be to discreetly follow them out to their car for example in order to record their license plate if the onlooker feels quite sure that there is no imminent danger in approaching the abusive adult they should do so in some way that is not immediately laying blame according to valeriereiser a counsellor at youth intransition in markham with a special in terest in family violence a sup portive approach is probably the best i see youre having a real ly hard time managing it must be tough trying to get your child looked after while youre on your own is there anything i can do to help reiser has usually found adults receptive to her approach by validating their feelings instead of laying blame a caring stranger may be more welcomed than admonished by a harried parent prior to coming to markham reiser spent four years as the childrens cousellor at interim place a womens shelter in mississauga as well as being responsible for the children of the women housed at the shelter she became very aware of the emo- sears makes it easy to own a kenmore with our special purchases llmwiglgbg 18cu ft frostless refrigerator features 2 full- width cantilever 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upper canada mall newmarket 8982300 the promenade shopping centre balhursi north of stecles 73 1 3388 the shop or steele at 404 88 1 6600 and sears rexdale dixie value mall clearance centres 8 sears furniture and appliance centre in oakville soars canadalncrcgor was refer tosears prices also available in our osriawa barrie burlington and belleville retail stores prices in effect until sat aug 1 9lh or while quantities last unless otherwise indicated prices do not include home delivery chirges for deiailspfeasoinquiroalyournearestsoarsstorenotallitemsavailaweinallstores copyright canada 1989 tional anguish and turmoil ex perienced by the adult victims or abuse yellow brick house in aurora is similar to interim place it is the only emergency shelter for women and their children in yorfo region although there are onlyo 21 bed spaces if a woman is iril danger we never turn hem away says monica gallagher public education coordinator mi several years ago statistics in dicated that one in 10 womeiv were physically abused during their lifetime more recehf research has revealed an in2 crease it is now believed thai one in seven is a more accurate account eg wife assault is responsible for co per cent of women who are murdered in canada in 1988 yellow brick house served 398 women and their childrena gallagher says that not only don we provide safe emergency shelter 24 hours a day 7 days ai week for up to six weeks but weo also have a 24hour crisis telephone line 1-800-263-3247- si if a woman needs to escape dangerous situation but has non car or means of transportation ton aurora they are encouraged toq take a taxi which will be paid for by yellow brick housed counsellors also offer assistancec and support around finding housj ing legal matters and parenting many women arrive at this and other shelters after a long history of partner abuse they most often have low selfesteem suffero from guilt deny the terror and anger they feel are often exfe periencing severe stress rearri lions and believe that they are responsible for being abused sm a battered woman often acvv cepts the imposed notion that hero place is in the home and is willing to give up any pursuit in order tos keep her partner happy if shei does work outside the home she often hands her money over tm her partner in an attempt tot keep the peace 1t outsiders may suggest thenri that the woman is bringing pro blems onto herself comments l such as she made her bed nbwq she has to lie in it are not uiia common it is very difficult however for an uninvolved perxi son who has never experienced the cycle of violence to trulya understand its wrath u phaseilliof a violenh cycle ist often referred to as the tension t building phase during this stage minor battering such am verbal criticism occursthe babo tered woman usually tries to resi main calm knowing that angei will only exacerbate the situa tion she usually attempts to calm the batterer down as ten sion inevitably escalates and each of her moves is subject to appraisal phase 2 begins the acute battering incident this triggers the release of un controllable emotions and ten sions usually the phase lasts from two to 24 hours but is often lengthier when the battering eventually stops the woman starts feeling less terrorized and slowly makes her way out into her partners space again 3 the reason that many women do not break the cycle of violence is because they know that even tually the kindness and loving behaviour phase 3 will return the batterer generally over- compensates during this phase in trying to make up to his partner the york region abuse and assault committees message is that markham is not excluded from abuse and assault and that it is time to raise peoples awareness of its occurence in their community the education subcommittee which was form ed in june 1989 includes kim harper chairperson and ex ecutive director of the york region abuse program monica gallagher yellow brick house pc paul torrens victims ser vices york regional police barbara zapf childrens aid society and brenda greenberg director youth in transition the goals of this subcommittee include planning and implemen ting educational events in york region the york region abuse pro gram yrap was conceived of in 1984 but it took three years before it received funding now its primarily funded by the ministry of community and social services by a 1989 grant from the region of york and through fundraising yrap developed in response to a perceived lack of sexual abuse services in york region until its inception childrens aid society was the only agency available for formal service harper felt that they were initially responding to the idea that sexual abuse is a community reponsibility incredible demand now due to a marked increase in those served the committee realizes that there is definitely an incredible demand for help in this area yrap established itself in may 1987 and based on an inleragency model trained contd on page a12