We recently partnered with Saint Mary's University through their Service Learning program and their Offenders and Victims course where students shared their research findings with us on a designated topic. One of our chosen areas of interest was how Men’s Intervention programs impact the prevention of gender-based violence.
We recently partnered with Saint Mary's University through their Service Learning program and their Offenders and Victims course where students shared their research findings with us on a designated topic. One of our chosen areas of interest was how gender-based violence affects 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
The House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women invited the public to submit written briefs for its study on Intimate Partner and Domestic Violence in Canada - Be the Peace Institute contributed to a collaborative brief, shared a few weeks ago but here is our independent brief, submitted on behalf of our organization.
It reflects our key takeaways over 6 years of projects, partnerships, research, interviews and reflection on IPV in Nova Scotia with a particular focus on rural needs, barriers and solutions.
Be the Peace Institute helped craft the attached letter to the Premier from the Women and Children First subcommittee of the Metro Interagency Committee on Family Violence regarding the Child and Youth Commission, the need for an Office of the Child and Youth Advocate and reconsideration on the clawback of the Child Care Benefit when children enter care.
We are so proud to have contributed to this brief on IPV in Canada to the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women with our amazing colleagues at the Metro Interagency Committee on Family Violence.
There are some specifically rural NS barriers & needs for those who have experienced IPV/GBV that need to be considered and if addressed, would help some of the most vulnerable victims of this issue.
This year, the Nova Scotia Legislation officially designated August 1st as Emancipation Day to recognize the history and impacts of our history of enslaved people of African descent in this province. This recognition did not happen overnight but resulted from tireless advocacy by many social justice and anti-racist warriors pushing for greater awareness. Warriors like the Honourable Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard, esteemed federal Nova Scotian senator whose work resulted in federal recognition of this important day this past March.
On August 1,1834, the British Parliament abolished slavery resulting in approximately 800,000 enslaved people of African Descent in the British Colonies, including Canada, being freed.
While the date marks a significant moment in acknowledging our shared history, we know that subtle forms of enslavement continue today in the form of both systemic and individual acts of anti-Black racism. These need to be addressed in a dedicated and ongoing way in order for all Nova Scotians to live with dignity, freedom and real equality.
At Be the Peace Institute, we are committed to becoming authentic allies to Nova Scotians of African descent by:
unearthing our own unconscious biases,
diversifying our organization,
committing to ongoing learning on becoming anti-racist,
acknowledging the uncomfortable truths and painful history of enslaved people in NS and their descendants in experiences like the demolition and forcible relocation from their ancestral homes in Africville, institutional abuses at the NS Home for Coloured Children,
raising awareness of ongoing injustices like the over-representation of Black Nova Scotians in correctional facilities, higher rates of workplace and housing discrimination, pay inequity and the rates of Black children taken into care,
advocating for greater investment in culturally responsive services and supports,
shining a light on the effects of environmental racism, (placement of landfills and toxic dumping sites near African Nova Scotian communities, and on the unequal impacts of the pandemic through racial inequities in the healthcare system,
and using the privilege we have to speak up in solidarity with our African Nova Scotian sisters and colleagues, or when they are absent at key decision-making tables, or their voices and perspectives are not sought or validated.
We acknowledge the deep and powerful legacy of intergenerational strength, resilience and persistence among Black Nova Scotians that have contributed to signs of hopeful progress:
The newly formed African Nova Scotian Justice Institute will work to address – overrepresentation of Black Nova Scotians in our justice correctional facilities, more consistent application of impact and race and culture assessments in courts, data collection, African Nova Scotian court support, reintegration program for African Nova Scotians, Alternative justice, human rights and policing accountability.
Halifax Regional Police, Board of Police Commissioners has a newly formed Sub-Committee to Define Defunding the Police with representatives from community, Chaired by El Jones
The Restorative Inquiry on the NS Home for Coloured Children report which includes action plans, commitments and recommendations that emerged through the inquiry
Creating Communities of Care a project to support urban, Indigenous and African Nova Scotian women who have experienced violence
“African Nova Scotian Perspectives” a new module of the NS Sexual Violence Strategy’s online training program to bring a culturally responsive lens to supports and services sexual assault survivours of African descent
Culturally-Responsive Healthcare and Social Services in African Nova Scotian Communities - a research partnership among Dalhousie researcher Dr. Nancy Ross, ABSW co-founder, Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard, Sue Bookchin of Be the Peace Institute, and Dennis Adams of Leave Out Violence NS, to explore whether health and social services to African Nova Scotians experiencing gender-based violence are culturally responsive and the impact of the pandemic on those services.
And learning opportunities like:
the NS Community Sector Council has partnered with multiple organizations to create and offer an educational webinar series, The Black History Learning Journey, exploring some of the key aspects of anti-Black racism, the history of African Nova Scotians over four centuries, and the impact on the Black experience in Nova Scotia today. Link to access the three-part recorded series.
By celebrating Emancipation Day we are celebrating human rights and dignity and we are making space for reparations and importantly – for action.
Some additional resources and organizations dedicated to serving people of African descent:
NS Association of Black Social Workers offers educational and community based programs ranging from clinical counselling to professional development.
Delmore Buddy Daye Learning Institute - NS-based educational research institute focused on policy analysis to inform policy makers, educators, parents and the general public on how to best improve educational opportunities and outcomes for Nova Scotian learners of African descent.
The African Nova Scotian Decade for People of African Descent Coalition (ANSDPAD) dedicated to building provincial, national and international change to address racial inequities faced by Nova Scotians of African descent and build on opportunities for a better future.
African Nova Scotian Sexual Violence Community Engagement Coordinator, (East Preston Family Resource Center) – Email to connect: anssvfrc@bellaliant.com
Funding envelope for Black Initiatives, see link to the Eventbrite information-sharing event
Be the Peace Institute will be a participant in the Mass Casualty Commission struck by the Federal and Nova Scotia governments in late October 2020 to inquire into the mass casualties that occurred over 13 hours in April 2020 in Nova Scotia.
We are honoured to contribute our expertise in the area of gender-based violence and its complexities as part of a coalition of organizations including Women’s Shelters Canada and Transition House Association of NS. We are honoured to contribute to this inquiry and hope this process will assist the families involved toward increased feelings of justice and resolution.
Many of us first met Sylvia serving on the Board of Second Story Women’s Centre or interacting with her as facilitator of Women in Business on the South Shore. Many non-profit boards tapped Sylvia’s accounting and organizational prowess to serve as Treasurer, and we, luckily, did likewise. She was the founding Treasurer for Be the Peace Institute, a stalwart supporter of our work to end gender-based violence, and a champion for women and their achievements for many years.
We are heartened by the brave and righteous protests happening all over North America and the world by diverse groups of people who are fed up with the systemic inequities and everyday micro-aggressions that target people of colour. With the pandemic further revealing the stark social inequities, we hope we are approaching a tipping point for recognizing and no longer tolerating the anti-Black racism that has persisted for hundreds of years.
They started finding reasons to touch me, pinching my butt, snapping my new real bras (“They look a lot better. Did you stuff?”) or straight-up grabbing my breasts. Dropped pencils with awkward leanovers. Staged run-ins. One time, a popular boy I knew who lived on my street forced his way into my living room while my parents were still working and fought with me over a remote control so that he could cop a feel. I didn’t say anything.
Many things are and will be written about this time, that I hope will reflect an awakening from this collective “time-out.” We’ve been sent to our proverbial rooms to think long and hard about our life as we knew it — the patterns of human activity on the planet, how we treat one another and the Earth that sustains us, and the governing structures we have created that permit and promote stark and ever-growing social inequities.
Today, I am grappling with grief and the convergence of two pandemics.
