Evidence of meeting #28 for Status of Women in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was work.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Marilyn Gladu
Thank you very much.
We're going to begin our round of questioning with my colleague, Mr. Fraser.
October 24th, 2016 / 4:45 p.m.
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
Excellent.
Thank you very much to each of you for your testimony, I very much appreciate it.
You mentioned near the end of your remarks about the different challenges that immigrants and newcomers face when it comes to reporting or dealing with the consequences of sexual assault. In my previous life, I had some experience working pro bono with certain immigrant women who reported that their immigration status made it very difficult for them, particularly for those who came through the temporary foreign worker program, to report or do anything about their sexual assault and the consequences thereof, because they felt captive to a single employer, and if they complained, then they faced deportation, potentially.
Can you elaborate on some of the challenges faced by immigrants or newcomers, and what the federal government might be able to do to help overcome those challenges?
4:45 p.m.
Executive Director, South Asian Women's Centre
The issue of violence against women is also interlinked to immigration and citizenship, eventually. One of the the things that made it very difficult was the conditional permanent residency, or CPR, which became part of the immigration portfolio. We found many women...it was unbelievable how many women came to SAWC for help, because within the first year of marriage, the marriage broke down. There was a woman who we had to admit into the shelter when she was three months pregnant. She left but she returned to the shelter when her baby was one month old.
These are the types of situations. There was another woman who was turned away at the airport and told that her husband had just said that the marriage was annulled, and she had to be sent back. She was brought to our agency, but her father did not want to continue. She was only 23 years old. She had nowhere to go and no place to stay. We did say we would find her the support she needed, but she recognized it was going to be an uphill battle. She chose to go back home, where she was going to be stigmatized for having been married previously. She was unlikely to find a bridegroom or settle down, and she would have to go through tremendous mental trauma.
I think that's what we refer to when we talk about some of the systems that are in place.
4:45 p.m.
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
We've certainly identified that this is a major problem, but is the solution to ensure that when newcomers arrive in Canada they have a determined pathway to citizenship and that there's not any kind of temporary or conditional status?
4:45 p.m.
Executive Director, South Asian Women's Centre
That is one way, yes, 100%. The other way is to provide supports, like I said, to community agencies so that we can go out to the hard to reach neighbourhoods to find and support the women that need support, and ensure that they have the support they need through education and through training. That's what we do. We provide mentorship training. We have about four groups in a week. We have the seniors group, the wellness group, the sewing group. These are groups of survivors who have come together to work together.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
Following up on the need for community support, one of the challenges when I ran into cases along these lines dealing with very vulnerable people is that, had my wife not worked in the civil society sector, I would not have had a phone call to say what's out there in the community, what community resources are there.
Do you partner regularly with people in the justice and law enforcement system and other civil society groups and how could the federal government enhance those relationships or help you enhance those relationships?
4:50 p.m.
Executive Director, South Asian Women's Centre
We have had a very good relationship with most of the police who have come into the agency to support us. When we reached out, we had some tremendous support. We also had significant support when we had pointed out certain.... For example, when women have been accused of assaulting men, which is not really true and we know that for a fact, we've been able to work with lawyers to prove that this is not the case. In fact, this is because the person has wanted to deport the woman back to her home country and has tried it in the past.
We have many cases of women being left behind in their home country under false pretenses without papers. We work with the Canadian high commission to try and bring them back. The high commission has been helpful in that respect.
4:50 p.m.
Board Chair, South Asian Women's Centre
I'd like to add that, given the patriarchal nature of the marriage, I think the dependence of women on men as spouses and the age difference are the crux of the matter. In terms of the collaboration, it might be useful for us to have some seamlessness in terms of interconnectivity between the different players. Some studies have been done in collaboration with SAWC and organizations like SALCO on forced marriage.
Any funding or any further collaboration to make this documentation more known, to bring the players together, and to take it to the next level, would be very helpful.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
That's a natural segue to my next question. You mentioned the patriarchal nature of the relationship. In your earlier testimony, you referred specifically to the need to promote financial independence and access to legal documents, among other things. Are there things the federal government can do to help promote the independence of women in relationships like the kinds that you're describing, whether it's financial, legal, or otherwise?
4:50 p.m.
Executive Director, South Asian Women's Centre
The other thing too is we recognize that housing is a major issue. We work very closely with the shelters all over Toronto and the GTA. That's one of the primary issues. We also recognize that women need their own place to stay. The transitional shelters don't really provide enough permanency or structure to a woman who has already gone through abuse.
The other issue is mental health support. There's little or no support for women in these situations because of language barriers, because of the isolation and their unwillingness to talk about these issues. These are some of the areas that you can focus on in greater depth.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Karen Vecchio Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
It's fantastic to have the three of you discuss this with us.
I don't know if you'll be able to answer this, but we talked about the generations and the patriarchal family. Do you find that within the first or second generation maybe the families have not been here long enough to know historical data? Do you find that as families are settled in Canada, we do move away from that for the majority of these families?
4:50 p.m.
Executive Director, South Asian Women's Centre
Do you want to answer that since you did your research?
Can you repeat your question please?
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Karen Vecchio Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
I'm looking at the patriarchal values that are brought from the countries. Do you feel that once they've settled in Canada, those are moving away, one generation away, two generations away, or is there is not enough data in history to be able to get that?
4:55 p.m.
Executive Director, South Asian Women's Centre
There are two things here.
One is yes, we were actually talking about doing another project based on the research and looking at the second generation. We have one project providing training on forced marriage as a form of human trafficking. Marmitha has taken that project on the road.
We found that the second generation of women who are raised here are much more aware. Am I right, Marmitha? They're much more aware and they are also willing to talk about these issues, but many of them are still structured within a family framework. I can say confidently that at least 50% of them want to please the family members when it comes to marriage and those kinds of decisions. The South Asian families are very close-knit. It's not just the family, but you marry into a larger joint family system as well.
4:55 p.m.
Board Chair, South Asian Women's Centre
I can quickly speak to that as well, and Marmitha was going to say something.
What we have is anecdotal evidence. We are going by the work that SAWC has done based on our case studies. I'm at Ryerson. The first generation project at Ryerson is in general and not just on South Asian background. I speak to the South Asian women who I happen to associate with sometimes and with our students. We are emphasizing the continuum because the family is the cultural core.
The continuity and the transmission of values is a major family project. As we know that transferring the values—as in the values of patriarchy, with women being the beholders of those values—is a very strong string that we see. It is the value system that keeps women from speaking, so the violence is embedded within the conversations. I'll give you a quick example. Olivia Chow is a visiting professor. We have the Jack Layton Leadership School. I was facilitating a group of women, and nine out of 10 women, when they were telling their story of wanting to be leaders, wanted to somewhere address sexual violence and gender-based violence but found no way and broke down into tears. It is this unspeakability woven into our systems which is intergenerational, for sure, that makes these moments very crucial.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Karen Vecchio Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
Absolutely.
Go ahead, if you have something to add.
4:55 p.m.
Project Coordinator, South Asian Women's Centre
Speaking to what Reena said, the second generation don't necessarily have language barriers and they are able to navigate the system. However, that doesn't necessarily mean they are not isolated and tied to their family values. During the process of interviewing, surveying, and doing our workshops and group sessions, I spoke to a young girl who was raised here. At the age of 17, after graduating from high school, she knew that the first thing that would come to mind was marriage, and she was forced into a marriage. Even though she knew the language and was able to navigate the Canadian system better than her parents, she was still stuck into the situation of forced marriage. She wasn't able to escape the situation until she was well into her late twenties.
I think extreme isolation is something that is, as Reena said, woven into the family values. Sometimes being settled here is not necessarily going to make it easier for them.
4:55 p.m.
Executive Director, South Asian Women's Centre
I will give one more example. A number of young women have approached us. We run the youth group in a different way now. We do more mentorship, one on one, trying to build leadership in different ways. Previously we used to meet them. One of the things that came out was, “I have to get back home because both my parents are going to work, and I have to take care of my younger siblings.” The oldest girl child becomes the mother of the family and assumes that role. She does not have the privileges that her peers have. That was a moment to remember for me because I thought to myself that this child, like many of the girls in that age group, do not have time to play or do the things they want to do...or had grandmothers who were brought in for the same purpose.
5 p.m.
Conservative
Karen Vecchio Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON
I have about a minute left with one question. I'm looking at what we're talking about here. We are seeing the difference between.... Some of them will recognize their cultural obligations. Some will recognize the legal grounds that we have here so that this wouldn't have to happen. But I do understand that strong family ties can be a big issue.
How do you target these women who are in your communities in the GTA? Is it that someone comes in and says here is a specific case, or do you go out into the cultural centres and try to have these conversations?
5 p.m.
Executive Director, South Asian Women's Centre
You would be surprised how most of the clients come to us through word of mouth and referrals and even through agencies from the government, from doctors, from police officers who refer them to the South Asian Women's Centre. They come from as far away as Ajax, Brampton, Scarborough, etc. We have one office in Scarborough and Markham where a worker works three days a week.
I hope that answers your question.
5 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Marilyn Gladu
Yes, it does, and that's the end of the time.
We'll go to Ms. Malcolmson for seven minutes.
5 p.m.
NDP
Sheila Malcolmson NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Thank you for your work. You seem like a very good team. Thank you for testifying to our committee.
This isn't specific to violence against young women and girls, but in some communities we're hearing among refugee children in the school system that they are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder but are not finding that the schools really are equipped to help them with it. Is that something you're seeing in your community also?