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Women Femmes NB
August 7, 2013

 

IN THIS ISSUE:

………………………………………………………………….……………

EIGHT STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING THE NUMBER OF WOMEN ON BOARDS

Increasing the number of women on Canada's boards of directors makes good business sense.

Countless women across the country possess skills and experiences that are highly valuable for corporate boards.

Here are some strategies that companies are using to increase the representation of women on their boards. Keep in mind that no single practice is the ultimate solution; they are all pieces of the puzzle.

  • Ensure Leadership Commitment
  • Adopt Formal Board Policies
  • Recruit Outside the “C-Suite”
  • Increase the Number of Women in the Leadership Pipeline
  • Recruit Beyond Traditional Networks
  • Sponsor High-Potential Women
  • Ensure Nominating Committee Impartiality
  • Focus on Competencies

http://bit.ly/1dURN4g

 

NOTICES

MMFC Workshop 2013: Risk Assessment & Risk Management in Intimate Partner Violence Situations - The workshop will provide an opportunity to better understand risk assessments, the importance of assessing risk and how the assessment can be used and/or shared among professionals working in collaboration.  October 30, 2013 For more information, email [email protected] or call (506) 453-3595. A public event will be held on October 29 at 7pm.

MMFF 2013 Grants Program - The Muriel McQueen Fergusson Foundation is accepting proposals for funding from registered charities, for projects dealing with the problem of family violence. The deadline for receiving applications is Monday, August 12th, 2013. For more information contact: The Muriel McQueen Fergusson Foundation Phone: (506) 472-5085    Fax:(506) 472-5084   E-mail: [email protected]

Enhancing Diversity in an Innovative Workplace session, October 22, 2013 from 1 to 5pm, Crown Plaza Hotel, Fredericton  - This year's National Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE) conference will hosted by UNB in Fredericton from October 20 to 23. One of the sessions, "Enhancing Diversity in an Innovative Workplace" will be open to the public as well as to conference participants.  Conference organizers are inviting those interested in exploring opportunities to spur innovation and economic development by enhancing diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) workplaces to attend.  Register for the free public session by emailing Christine Plourde: ( [email protected] ), or sign up for the session when registering for the CSChE conference. Visit the website for more information:  http://www.csche2013.ca/themes_symposia/career.html

1st Annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes Shediac on October 4th, 2013 - The Beausejour Family Crisis Resource Center Inc. is hosting their first annual Walk a Mile in her shoes : The international men's march to stop rape, sexual assault and gendered violence. The event will be held on October 4 2013 at the Multipurpose Centre in Shediac from 11:00 am- 1:00pm. This event serves as both an important awareness campaign and fundraiser which engages men and boys in taking a stand against gendered violence. For more information or interviews contact Kristal LeBlanc or Crystal Ouellette (506) 533-9100

CyberGirlz: A new summer day camp offered August 19th to the 23rd - by the Faculty of Computer Science. Designed for girls entering grades 6-8, CyberGirlz will introduce girls to basic Internet security concepts and their application in real life. This year's theme will be CSI: Cyber Security Investigation .  To find out more information please visit http://iscx.ca/summercamp2013 or to register contact Natalia Stakhanova at [email protected]

21inc seeks nominations for leadership experience - The 2nd edition of the Emerging Leaders Summit will take place October 20th to the 23rd in St. Andrew's NB. Ideas Festival, scheduled for October 23rd to the 25th. For more information, please contact: Nadine Martin, Project Leader at (506) 384-7051 [email protected] or Nadine Duguay Executive Director at (506) 380-4986 [email protected]

How to be more assertive: A one-day Workshop - Friday, August 30th, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, the Station on York Street. Please register by August 9th for early bird discount: $75 per person. Limited Seating! Register Early!! After August 9th : $99 per person. Fee includes lunch, health breaks, and handouts! To register please contact: 506-458-8211 [email protected]

WiN-Canada (Women in Nuclear) is holding their 10th Annual Conference - “Seize the Future - Innovation in the Nuclear Industry", September 29 - October 01, 2013 at the Best Western Pembroke Inn and Conference Centre. The focus is to “seize the future” by aligning yourself with the current trends in nuclear and related industries to better position yourself for future success. For more information and full conference details please visit: http://bit.ly/1219cCR

Aboriginal Justice Strategy Call for Proposal (CFP) - The Aboriginal Justice Directorate (AJD) is pleased to announce the launch of the 2013-2014 Aboriginal Justice Strategy Call for Proposal (CFP), and is now seeking applications for project funding under the Capacity-Building Fund . This year, the CFP is open from June 12 until September 13, 2013.  We will accept applications until Friday, September 13th, 23:59 Pacific Time. http://bit.ly/1bxedHx

In 2010, according to self-reported data 60% of women and 66% of men in New Brunswick were overweight or obese, compared to Canadian averages of 44% of women and 61% of men.

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W.H.O. STUDY ON VAW

On June 20 th the World Health Organization ( WHO), the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) released their report “Global and regional estimates of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence.”

The report is the first systematic study of global data on the topic.It details how abuse impacts all aspects of women'shealth.

Among the findings:

  • Approximately 35% of all women will experience intimate partner or non-partner violence.
  • Globally 30% of women experience violence by an intimate partner making it the most common type of abuse faced by women.
  • 42% of women physically or sexually abused by partners suffered injuries
  • Victims of non-partner attacks were 2.6 times more likely to experience depression and anxiety compared with women who had not experienced violence
  • Women abused by their partners were almost twice as likely to have similar problems
  • Victims were more likely to have alcohol problems, abortions and acquire sexually transmitted diseases and HIV

Guidelines released along with the report will help countries improve their health sector's capacity to respond to violence against women.

The report also calls for an increase in global efforts to prevent all kinds of violence against women by dealing with the social and cultural factors that cause violence against women.


STUDY: IMPACT OF WIDOWHOOD AND DIVORCE ON INCOME REPLACEMENT AMONG SENIORS, 1983 TO 2007

The extent to which family income was maintained in old age—that is, income replacement—was lower among women who became divorced after age 55 than among those who became widowed after that age. However, both groups had lower income replacement rates than women who remained married.

In contrast, the impact of divorce or widowhood on income replacement was smaller among men.

This study analysed whether Canadians who became widowed or divorced later in life and remained so had more difficulty maintaining their family income as they aged. It used data from Statistics Canada's Longitudinal Administrative Databank to compare the family income of married people at ages 54 to 56 with the family income of always married, widowed, or divorced or separated people at age 78 to 80. These comparisons took into account changes in family size.

Women who remained married had a median family income at age 78 to 80 that was 83% of their family income at age 54 to 56. Among women who became widowed after age 55, the ratio was 79%, while among those who became divorced or separated, it was 73%.

The impact of divorce or widowhood varied between women from higher and lower family income brackets.

Among the 20% of women at the top of the family income distribution at age 54 to 56, those who remained married had a family income at age 78 to 80 that was 74% of their family income 25 years earlier. For widows, family income fell to 65%, and for divorcées, it fell to 53%.

Among the 20% of women at the bottom of the family income distribution at age 54 to 56, family income was higher at age 78 to 80 than it was 25 years earlier for all marital status groups. This means that, at least in terms of income maintenance, the effects of widowhood and divorce were smaller at the bottom of the income distribution.

The impact of divorce or separation was greatest among women from higher-income families among whom investments and private pensions were an important source of income. In contrast, the reliance on public-pension income tended to reduce the impact of marital dissolution on income maintenance among women in lower-income families.

Among men, separation or divorce had little affect on income maintenance in old age. Widowhood even increased the economic resources of some men because a similar family income was shared across fewer family members.

Income maintenance outcomes were similar among cohorts who were aged 54 to 56 in 1983 and in 1993. However, the findings may or may not hold among subsequent generations of seniors. http://bit.ly/NZn9zf

 

MAN NAMED KIM SAYS ADDING 'MR' TO RESUME ENDED JOB TROUBLES

An unintentional experiment on workplace gender discrimination by an Australian management consultant has lit a fire of discussion online after he said adding two letters to his resume landed him a job within a few weeks.

Those letters were "Mr."

In the blog post " How I Discovered Gender Discrimination ," Kim O'Grady wrote that in the late '90s he quit his job and set out in search of new opportunities.

"There were plenty of opportunities around and I usually had a few applications on the go at any one time. I was an experienced guy in an experienced guy's world, this wouldn't be hard," he wrote.

He was wrong. O'Grady wrote that after about four months he still hadn't landed an interview. He looked over his curriculum citae, pondering what a qualified person like himself might be doing wrong.

Then, O'Grady wrote, he realized his name, Kim, was boldly positioned at the top of the document. Employers might have thought he was a woman.

"At first I thought I was being a little paranoid but engineering, trades, sales and management were all definitely male dominated industries," he wrote. He had also mentioned in the document that he was married with children.

O'Grady wrote that after adding "Mr." to his CV, he was offered an interview for the next two jobs he applied for, and he took the second one. The events of his post took place more than a decade ago, but O'Grady wrote in a follow-up post he was surprised — and distressed — at how much it still resonated.

"Gender discrimination is real and it damages women, and removing gender discrimination needs leadership from men," he wrote.

More recent evidence suggests he's right. A study published in the fall sent scientists the same application for a position as lab manager, sometimes with a male name and other times with a woman's. Both men and women reviewing the applications rated the female applicants lower on average in all categories, including competence and hireability, even though the qualifications were exactly the same.

We've heard these statistics a hundred times each. But years after Kim O'Grady's experience, it seems progress hasn't inched forward quite so much as we might like to imagine. http://yhoo.it/16GA9xg

POLICE TAKE ON FAMILY VIOLENCE TO AVERT DEATHS

As the number of homicides in New York has reached historically low levels, the Police Department has intensified its efforts to combat a particularly stubborn and daunting source of murders: domestic violence.

Over the past several years, the department has bolstered the size of the staff at its domestic violence unit by about 40 percent, with 450 police officers now focused on families with histories of violence. The police are now making more domestic violence arrests, while murders linked to domestic violence appear to have declined slightly.

As part of their work, the officers assigned to the domestic violence unit make a total of 70,000 precautionary visits a year to the households with past episodes. Each precinct station house also maintains a “high propensity” list of a dozen or so households that get special attention because they are believed to be most at risk of further violence.

In their visits, the police devise safety plans with the victims and check for evidence of further abuse and, when a past abuser is barred from the home, signs of his return. “You look to see if she has any bruises; you're looking around the house to see if the furniture is broken,” said Detective Dale Edwards, describing what she does during a home visit. “You inquire. You try to be tactical about it.”

The murder rate in New York has dropped significantly over the last dozen years, to an average of fewer than one a day in the first six months of 2013 from nearly two a day in 2000. The trend has been attributed in part to the Police Department's focusing its resources on getting guns off the street and on neighborhood gangs. Now, with the efforts to reduce domestic violence homicides, the department believes it is seeing success in an area once thought to be intractable.

In 2011, there were 47 homicides involving “intimate partners” — a category that includes spouses, boyfriends and girlfriends, current or otherwise. There were 39 such murders last year, and as of Wednesday, 21 this year. (Historically, about 80 percent of the victims of intimate-partner homicides in the city are women.)

“I think this proactive approach has played a significant role in the reduction of murders,” Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said in an interview.

The push in New York mirrors similar efforts around the nation. In Massachusetts, for example, a program in Newburyport won accolades from the White House for its outreach program that tries to identify cases where domestic abusers seem most likely to escalate to murder, and prevent them from doing so.

In 2011, the Police Department grew alarmed at a sudden increase in domestic violence murders, prompting an internal review and, ultimately, many changes. Among them, under Mr. Kelly, domestic violence unit assignments became detective-track positions, a significant draw for young and ambitious officers and a signal that the department was making the work a priority.

More emphasis has also been placed on evidence collection. After a choking assault, for example, domestic violence officers are required to return to see a victim a day or two later to photograph bruises that may not have been visible when officers first responded.

In Sunnyside, Queens, Viridiana Victorio's address was added to the local precinct house's watch list after her boyfriend grabbed her neck and slapped her in 2011, one of thousands of misdemeanor domestic assault cases in that borough alone. But something about Ms. Victorio's case raised a red flag for the police. Officers began visiting her apartment to offer support and to confirm that the boyfriend, Angel Pérez-Rios, was staying away, as a restraining order required.

Their 20th visit was a month ago, on June 25. Something minor — either the presence of a beer bottle or two glasses, according to the police — prompted the officers to ask whether Mr. Pérez-Rios had returned. Ms. Victorio and her children said no.

But Mr. Pérez-Rios had moved back in. The police say he stabbed her to death a week later. He is now charged with murder.

“The police commissioner wanted to know, had we done everything humanly possible to help this individual?” Chief Kathleen M. O'Reilly, who heads the department's domestic violence unit, said. “I said that we categorically had done everything, barring moving in to her residence with her.”

The case underscores the challenge that confronts the police even after they have identified a domestic violence situation they think is likely to escalate to murder.

In 2012, the police responded on 263,207 occasions to reports of domestic violence.

The chief of the special victims bureau in the Manhattan district attorney's office, Audrey Moore, said that as cases came in, there was often a question at the back of prosecutors' minds: “Is this going to be the case, the case where he goes on to kill her?”

The police use a computer program to scan police complaint reports for worrisome words like “kill,” “suicide” and “alcohol” and to help officers prioritize the more combustible cases.

The Police Department has also begun to make greater use of the millions of domestic incident reports that it has filed away over the years. Now each time a domestic violence case is opened, all previous reports associated with that victim are automatically sent to the assigned officer.

But the department also depends on officers' gut instincts and the fear levels of the victim in deciding whom to place on the high-propensity lists.

The next victim may not even be on the radar of the officers currently devoted to domestic violence work. Less than a quarter of the victims and perpetrators of domestic homicides had contact with the police in the year before the murder, according to city statistics.

A significant number of the killings seem to occur as the victim is preparing to leave a boyfriend or husband, investigators and prosecutors said.

Taking on the responsibility of preventing such homicides poses relatively new challenges for police departments nationwide. Until the 1980s and the early 1990s, officers tended to view the bulk of domestic violence cases as beyond the scope of their jobs.

“When I was a police officer and after that, there was this sort of notion that family matters would be left alone,” said Commissioner Kelly, who became a trainee in 1960. “It was something that was seen as unwieldy, complex, and I think officers years ago shied away from it.”

Those attitudes started to change in the late 1970s, partly as a result of lawsuits by women's groups. Since the mid-1990s, the New York department has had specially trained domestic violence officers assigned to precincts.

When Mr. Kelly became police commissioner in 2002, there were 150 officers assigned exclusively to domestic violence casework. Now there are about 450, he said, with much of the increase happening since 2010.

Over the past decade, prosecutors across the city have changed their approach to domestic assault cases, relying more on physical evidence that allows them to pursue cases even when the victim has reconciled with her abuser and stopped cooperating.

Prosecutors have had success using recorded phone calls from Rikers Island, where incarcerated husbands and boyfriends often call their victims to persuade them to lie about the abuse. In Queens, prosecutors have begun to subpoena the phone records of both victims and defendants to demonstrate contact between the two, providing an explanation to a jury for a victim's changed story.

The Brooklyn district attorney's office recently started to use an ultraviolet light to find evidence of neck injuries that might not have resulted in visible bruising in choking or strangulation cases.

“We're always looking if there was something that we missed, if there was something that would trigger a better response,” said Chief O'Reilly, who has run the domestic violence unit since 2011.

The home visits are “the cornerstone of our response to domestic violence,” she continued. They can continue for years, long after the conclusion of any criminal cases involving the couple.

Scott E. Kessler, the prosecutor who leads the domestic violence unit for the Queens district attorney, estimated that three-quarters of domestic violence defendants violate an order of protection within 72 hours, through phone calls or text messages or by returning to the residence.

Home visits by the police can make the abuser wary about moving back in, Mr. Kessler said. “The victim is telling the defendant, ‘The officers keep coming by to ask if you're here, checking on you,' ” he said. “That's got to be a deterrent.” http://nyti.ms/13L8D40




IN PARTING

The future must not belong to those who bully women – it must be shaped by … those who stand for a world where our daughters can live their dreams just like our sons.

– U.S. President Barack Obama, to the U.N. General Assembly, 25 Sept. 2012,

 

 

 

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Women Femmes NB
is sent out twice a month by the provincial government Women's Equality Branch. It provides news related to equality issues, including events, studies, initiatives and information from women's groups, governments, universities, etc.

**Text from non-governmental sources will be published in the language(s) in which it is provided.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     
 
Women Femmes NB
le 7 août 2013
 

DANS CE NUMÉRO :

………………………………………………………………………………

HUIT STRATÉGIES POUR ACCROÎTRE LE NOMBRE DE FEMMES AU SEIN DES CONSEILS D'ADMINISTRATION

Accroître le nombre de femmes au sein des conseils d'administration canadiens relève du bon sens commercial.

Dans tout le pays, d'innombrables femmes possèdent déjà des compétences et une expérience d'une grande utilité pour les conseils d'administration d'entreprises.

Voici certaines stratégies qu'adoptent les entreprises pour accroître la représentation des femmes à leur conseil. Soulignons qu'il n'existe pas de solution universelle; chacune de ces stratégies a un rôle à jouer.

  • Assurez-vous de l'engagement des têtes dirigeantes
  • Adoptez des politiques officielles
  • Recrutez ailleurs qu'aux plus hauts échelons de la direction
  • Augmentez le nombre de femmes dans la filière du pouvoir
  • Recrutez à l'extérieur des réseaux traditionnels
  • Parrainez des femmes très prometteuses
  • Assurez-vous de l'impartialité des comités de candidatures
  • Concentrez-vous sur les competences

- http://bit.ly/1dURN4g

 

AVIS

Atelier 2013 du CMMF :  Évaluation & gestion des risques dans des situations de violence conjugale - L'atelier offrira aux participants une occasion de mieux comprendre les outils d'évaluations du risque; l'importance d'évaluer les risques et de comment l'évaluation des risques peut être utilisée et/ou partagée entre les professionnels qui travaillent dans des cas de situations de violence conjugale. 30 octobre 2013. Il y aura également un évènement public le 29 Octobre à 19h. Pour obtenir davantage d'informations, envoyer un courriel à l'adresse [email protected] ou composer le (506) 453-3595.

Programme de subventions 2013 de la FMMF - La Fondation Muriel McQueen Fergusson accepte en ce moment les demandes de subventions d'organismes de bienfaisance enregistrés, relativement à des projets liés au problème de la violence familiale. La date limite de réception des demandes est le lundi 12 août 2013. Pour en savoir plus, communiquer avec : La Fondation Muriel McQueen Fergusson Téléphone : (506) 472-5085   Télécopieur : (506) 472-5084   Courriel : [email protected]

Première marche annuelle: Marchons un mille dans ses souliers le 4 octobre 2013 à Shediac - Le Centre de ressources et de crises familiales Beauséjour annonce sa première marche annuelle : Marchons un mille dans ses souliers à Shediac le vendredi 4 octobre 2013 au Centre Multifonctionnel de 11 h à 13 h. Marchons un mille dans ses souliers est la marche internationale d'hommes pour mettre fin aux agressions sexuelles et la violence faite aux femmes. Pour plus d'information ou entrevue communiquez : Kristal LeBlanc ou Crystal Ouellette : 533-9100

Ateliers en droit de la famille - Les cours seront présentés dans la langue précisée. Vous pouvez cliquer sur le sujet traité pour obtenir un exemplaire de l'affiche. Voir l'horaire http://bit.ly/QaBvsH

Une journée pour transformer sa vie - Une journée conférences et ateliers axées sur le développement personnel aura lieu le 19 octobre 2013 à Bathurst avec la conférencière Caroline Rochon. Une partie des profits de cet événement "Toi c'est tout" sera versé à la Maison de Passage. Pour plus d'information, veuillez communiquez avec Annie 544-6747 ou Monique 548-2336. Frais d'inscription 100$ . Pour femme seulement.

En 2010, selon les données auto déclarées, 60% des femmes et 66% des hommes au Nouveau-Brunswick ont une surcharge de poids ou étaient obèses, comparativement à des moyennes canadiennes de 44% des femmes et 61% des hommes.

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ÉTUDE DE L'ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTÉ SUR LA VIOLENCE FAITE AUX FEMMES

Le 20 juin dernier, l'Organisation mondiale de la Santé, la London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine et le Conseil sud-africain de la Recherche médicale ont diffusé un rapport intitulé «  Estimations mondiale s et régionales de la violence à l'encontre des femmes : prévalence des conséquences sur la santé de la violence du partenaire intime et de la violence sexuelle exercée par d'autres que le partenaire  ».

Ce rapport représente la première étude systématique des données mondiales à ce sujet.Il explique la façon dont la violence se répercute sur tous les aspects de la santé d'une femme.

Voici quelques faits saillants du rapport :

  • Environ 35 % de toutes les femmes seront victimes de violence de la part d'un partenaire intime ou de violence exercée par une personne autre que leur partenaire.
  • À l'échelle mondiale, 30 % des femmes sont victimes de violence de la part d'un partenaire intime, soit la forme la plus courante de violence faite aux femmes.
  • 42 % des femmes victimes de violence physique ou sexuelle aux mains de leur partenaire subissent des blessures.
  • Les victimes d'attaques perpétrées par une personne autre que le partenaire sont 2,6 fois plus susceptibles de souffrir de dépression et d'anxiété que les femmes qui n'ont pas été victimes de violence.
  • Les femmes victimes de violence aux mains de leur partenaire ont presque deux fois plus de risques de souffrir de troubles semblables.
  • Les victimes sont plus susceptibles de souffrir de troubles liés à la consommation d'alcool, de se faire avorter et de contracter le VIH.

Des lignes directrices diffusées conjointement avec le rapport aideront les pays à améliorer la capacité de leur secteur de la santé à intervenir en matière de violence faite aux femmes.

Le rapport recommande l'accroissement à l'échelle mondiale des efforts visant à prévenir toutes les formes de violence envers les femmes en tenant compte des facteurs sociaux et culturels qui y donnent lieu.


«TRAFIQUÉE» PROLONGE DANS LE MONDE TROUBLANT DU TRAFIC SEXUEL

Quand elle a commencé à travailler sur sa pièce «Trafiquée» portant sur le trafic et l'esclavage sexuel, l'auteure Emma Haché en a fait rapidement une affaire personnelle tellement elle a été choquée et troublée par ce qu'elle a pu apprendre. Aujourd'hui, son oeuvre n'est pas que du théâtre; il est aussi un profond outil de dialogue et de réflexion sur ce sujet tabou qui n'épargne personne, même pas des régions rurales comme la Péninsule acadienne.

Neuf mois de lectures, de recherches, d'entrevues avec des prostituées et des policiers ont abouti à un monologue massue de 48 pages qui est joué depuis maintenant deux ans à Montréal, qui a été présenté en France en juin 2012 et qui pourrait également monter sur les planches belges dans les prochaines semaines. Cette commande d'une amie comédienne d'origine chilienne en 2009 s'est métamorphosée en quasi-obsession pour l'écrivaine de Lamèque.

«Ç'a été très difficile à vivre, mais ç'a toujours été ancré dans cet engagement profond de changer les choses, admet-elle quelques instants après avoir donné une conférence à Shippagan sur son processus dans le cadre des activités de la Semaine de sensibilisation aux actes criminels. Plus je trouvais des choses, plus j'avais le feu au derrière de dénoncer, plus j'avais une avidité d'en connaître les rouages et les stratégies. J'ai été très passionnée par ce sujet. J'avais souvent besoin de ventiler l'information que je trouvais et parfois, c'est mon entourage qui a écopé.»

La pièce «Trafiquée», pour les non-initiés, est très dure, mais pour celles qui ont connu ce milieu, il reste encore beaucoup à dire, affirme Emma Haché. Ça veut dire que la réalité est parfois pire que ce qu'elle raconte en mots, a-t-elle admis. C'était un défi de créer tout en respectant le concept artistique et le tableau de la sensibilisation sociale, ajoute-t-elle.

Encore aujourd'hui, elle aborde la question un peu de force quand on lui demande de replonger dans le vif du sujet et de faire des conférences sur le trafic et de l'esclavage sexuel.

«Je le fais avec passion, mais pas de gaieté de coeur. Je suis habitée de ses images, de ces témoignages de personnes qui vivent de grands drames humains et comment notre société perpétue ces traditions et ce commerce. Mais à force d'en parler, ça peut changer les choses», croit celle qui a obtenu plusieurs honneurs avec cette pièce, dont une présence en finale du prix du Gouverneur général du Canada, ainsi que la reconnaissance du prix Antonine-Maillet/Acadie Vie et des Cochons d'or.

À mesure où elle progressait dans l'écriture de «Trafiquée», Emma Haché a senti se réveiller en elle un désir de plus en plus fort de se faire une puissante porte-parole. Elle se définit maintenant comme une abolitionniste, un groupe qui cherche à convaincre les autorités politiques de changer le Code criminel du Canada afin qu'il cible plutôt les proxénètes, les tenanciers de bordels et les clients.

Beaucoup de choses l'ont troublée dans cette quête, mais la plus importance source de dérangement est venue du manque de solidarité des hommes, et même de certaines femmes, envers ces femmes souvent forcées à utiliser leurs corps à des fins financières dans des conditions qui constituent un risque pour leur estime de soi, leur santé et même leur vie.

«On s'aperçoit qu'il y a des mécanismes dans notre société qui continuent d'engendrer la discrimination, le rapport de domination et d'accepter qu'une femme puisse être marchandée. C'est un tissu extrêmement solide et rentable. J'ai remarqué aussi qu'il y a beaucoup de personnes qui appuient ces mécanismes, qui continuent à les nourrir et que souvent, ce sont des personnes beaucoup plus près de nous que l'on pense. Cela a été très troublant pour moi», révèle-t-elle.

Quelqu'un qui se pointe le nez dans le milieu du trafic et de l'esclavage sexuel court également des risques personnels de nuire à un marché très lucratif généralement mené par le crime organisé. Emma Haché n'a jamais senti qu'elle pouvait être en danger durant son enquête, mais c'est peut-être parce que c'est demeuré relativement à une petite échelle, à son avis.

«Si j'avais passé à «Tout le monde en parle» avec ça, peut-être aurais-je eu droit à des répliques. Pour le moment, il n'y a pas encore un gros rayonnement à ce que j'ai fait. Aussi, il y a des personnes beaucoup mieux qualifiées que moi pour en parler et qui travaillent fort à faire évoluer les consciences. À travers l'écriture de «Trafiquée», j'ai beaucoup appris, mais je n'ai pas le sentiment que j'ai dérangé la cour des gens de cette industrie encore. Par contre, je savais que j'allais affronter beaucoup de résistance et de déni, parfois de personnes très articulées comme des intellectuels, des féministes et des universitaires. Il y a encore beaucoup d'éveil à faire. C'est pourquoi il fallait que je sois bien outillée en ressources pour les affronter. C'est correct que ça dérange et que ça ébranle, si c'est pour changer les choses pour le mieux», fait-elle part, tout en admettant qu'il soit très difficile pour elle, personnellement et artistiquement, d'en faire une suite.

 

LA VILLE... PLUS DURE SUR LE MORAL DES NOUVELLES MAMANS

L Les femmes qui habitent dans des centres urbains de plus de 500 000 résidents sont plus susceptibles de faire une dépression après l'accouchement, selon une étude de l'hôpital Women's College de Toronto réalisée pour le Journal de l'Association médicale canadienne.

Pour comprendre l'influence du lieu de résidence sur la dépression post-partum, les chercheurs ont analysé les données de 6421 femmes demeurant en ville ou en région, parmi celles qui ont répondu à l'Enquête canadienne sur l'expérience de la maternité, en 2006.

L'équipe a ensuite tenté de savoir si l'isolement, chez les résidentes des villes, pouvait avoir un impact sur les résultats. Le Centre de toxicomanie et de santé mentale a aussi participé à l'étude.

Pourcentage de femmes souffrant de dépression post-partum :
Région rurale : 6 %
Région semi-rurale : 7 %
Région semi-urbaine : 5 %
Région urbaine : 10 %

L'étude a démontré que les femmes des grands centres urbains sont moins soutenues socialement pendant et après l'accouchement. Le plus grand nombre d'immigrants qui s'établissent dans les villes du pays influence aussi les résultats, puisqu'ils sont éloignés de leur famille. Les antécédents de dépression et l'absence d'un réseau social sont d'autres facteurs. 

Briser l'isolement
En région, cependant, les femmes qui avaient facilement accès à une grande ville étaient moins à risque que celles qui étaient davantage isolées.

Les chercheurs estiment que les programmes préventifs et les services sociaux offerts aux femmes enceintes devraient être améliorés au Canada. « Considérant les conséquences de la dépression post-partum, il s'agit d'une question de santé publique », affirme l'une des auteures de l'étude, Simone Vigod.

« Les enfants des mères qui ne sont pas traitées pour ces problèmes de dépression ont des problèmes de développement », ajoute-t-elle. http://bit.ly/197C84X

 


EN FIN DE COMPTE

La liberté des moeurs, chez une femme, alléchait Ferral, mais la liberté de l'esprit l'irritait. – Du roman, La condition humaine, d'André Malraux, 1933.

 

 

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Women Femmes NB est publié deux fois par mois par la Direction de l'égalité des femmes du gouvernement provincial. Il diffuse des nouvelles sur les questions d’égalité - des événements, des rapports, des initiatives et des renseignements nous provenant des groupes de femmes, des gouvernements, des universités et autres.

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