IN THIS ISSUE:
- CHARITABLE DONATIONS, N.B., 2010
- NOTICES
- TO BREAK DOWN THE INTERGENERATIONAL CYCLE OF ABUSE…
- YOU KNOW THE TYPE
- LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY IN SOCIAL PROGRAM SPENDING
- AN ALTERNATIVE FEDERAL BUDGET
- EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION
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CHARITABLE DONATIONS, N.B., 2010
Keeping in mind that New Brunswick women’s total income from all sources is 34% less than N.B. men’s income (& 40% less than Canadian men’s, & 11% less than Canadian females), & that income tax rules encourage the person in a couple with the larger income to declare all charitable donations of the couple, here are the median charitable donations in New Brunswick in 2010, based on income tax reports.
Number of donors: 123,000 New Brunswickers (46% were female)
Median donation:
N.B. males $320
Canadian males $280
N.B. females $270
Canadian females $240
- Statistics Canada. CANSIM 111-0002, http://bit.ly/GJJWds
NOTICES
Offer As A Candidate In The May 14 2012 municipal, District Education Council & Regional Health Authority elections. Deadline: Fri 13 April. Women are currently 28% of municipal councilors & 17% of mayors in N.B. Elections NB website: http://bit.ly/GJJUCk
Getting to the Gate Campaign School, online program, Equal Voice Canada: http://bit.ly/GKtDOK
Potential source for funding: Equal Voice Canada: send them your info & 100 word profile before 30 March & they’ll circulate to supportive members who’ll possibly send donations: [email protected]
Healthy Futures for Healing Families – conference with author /speaker Lundy Bancroft. Best practices for intervening with male perpetrators of violence against women; dynamics of emotional injury & recovery in children exposed to violence. Of interest to professionals & service providers. 26 April 2012, 8:30-4pm, Best Western Woodstock. Free (lunch incl) but you must register: [email protected] Woodstock Caring Communities in recognition of Nat’l Victims of Crime Awareness Week.
Power & Control in Teen Dating Relationships – free public session with author / workshop leader Lundy Bancroft (see above), Wed 25 April 2012, 7-9pm, Best Western Hotel Woodstock.
Human Trafficking: Reality vs. Myth – How the problem affects Atlantic Canada. Conference for professionals & parents, front-line workers & policy makers. City of Moncton Public Safety Advisory Committee. With Victor Malarek, W5 senior reporter & author of books on human trafficking & the sex trade, Glendene Grant, mother of a woman missing because of human trafficking; Lee Cohen, immigration lawyer; & RCMP officers. Thurs 19 April 2012, Delta Beauséjour Moncton. $50 if registered by 30 March, or $65 (student $25). A few subsidies available to NGO’s. [email protected].
Children Resisting Post-Separation Contact: What it is, What it isn’t & What to Do - 2-day training for legal & mental health professionals. Types & levels of contact problems, assessment & intervention, role of the court, parent education & clinical strategies. With Barbara Jo Fidler, psychologist/ accredited mediator/ presenter to the judiciary & mental health professionals, co-author of a forthcoming book, Children Who Resist Post-Separation Parental Contact. 22-23 June 2012, Future Inns Moncton. $50 in advance only. 1-877-495-5595; [email protected]. Justice NB & N.B. Assoc of Social Workers.
Challenging Men Toward Safety & Equality In Primary Relationships - 20-hr program, developing self-awareness to avoid hurtful /embarrassing behavior. Sundays 15 April to 24 June, 6-8pm. Fredericton Family Enrichment. $250 (+interview fee). Register by 31 March: 458-8211; [email protected]
Family Violence: Strategies for Healthy Living & Healthy Relationships – With author Dr. Walter S. DeKeseredy & others. 8 May 2012, STU. Early bird $75 by 10 April. Provincial Caring Partnerships Cttee http://bit.ly/GSXPAW
Crime Prevention Conference “Learning Together: Getting Smarter on Crime” - 28-29 March 2012, Fredericton Crowne Plaza Lord Beaverbrook. By Govt of N.B., http://bit.ly/ynEQXU
Preventing Youth Relationship Violence in Social Media - 20 April 2012, Fredericton. Partners for Youth, Join youth, program leaders, school personnel. [email protected] ; http://bit.ly/GXqOr7
Fredericton Women’s Show, 14-15 Apr 2012, Convention Centre. Free (donations for Transition House accepted). Shop til you drop or learn something new! http://bit.ly/GS7Lwl
Skills Work!® For Women” Networking Dinners - Provides females in gr. 9-12 access to female mentors working in non-traditional careers. Enjoy a dinner, explore careers, meet women working in skilled trades & technologies fields - & in some cases, see how the job is done. Next dinners: 29 March 2012, 5:30-8:30pm Sussex Regional High School. 9 May 2012, Fredericton Leo Hayes High. http://bit.ly/nF6SJD
Self-directed group workshop “You are Worth it: Compensation Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them”. To educate women about discriminatory pay practices & how to minimize effects. Have you been in a situation where you were paid less than a co-worker doing same work, or less than what you felt the work was worth? Ontario Pay Equity Office & BPW Clubs http://bit.ly/GSwHHQ
Being There for Seniors - session with several presenters incl. Giselle Arsenault, Social Development NB, Thurs 19 Apr 2012, 2-4pm, Moncton Hospital, Theatre A. Mary Bourgeois 858-7870 (115).
Juno winning jazz vocalist Kellylee Evans - Conversations with Inspiring Women, Imperial Theatre Saint John, 10 April 2012. Free. Register 674-4111; 1-800-323-7469 [email protected] http://bit.ly/Ha41Vy
TO BREAK DOWN THE INTERGENERATIONAL CYCLE OF ABUSE…
In Charlotte County there is a partnership that is working together to support families who have witnessed or experienced domestic/ family abuse, advocating for healthy relationships, educating the community about abuse, & empowering all ages of girls & women with hopes of ending the intergenerational cycle of abuse.
Carol Lynn Gamblin, Community Outreach Coordinator & Kelly Kurtz-Johnson, Children Support Worker both work under the management of Fundy Region Transition House Inc. in Charlotte County & their referrals come from agencies such as Social Development, Mental Health, the Integrated Service Delivery Team, & ex-residents. Although Kelly & Carol each have their own clients, client files & schedules for many of the people they see, there are a group of women & children where appointments & services are coordinated to happen at the same time. Where it happens is determined between the clients & Carol & Kelly, keeping the needs of the clients at the centre of it. Ideally to create a supportive plan for women with children who are in transition, a connection is started before they move out of Fundy Region Transition House & allows for a smooth flow of services once they leave. This can be very beneficial in providing them with additional comfort & security as they take the next step. If it isn’t possible to do this for a variety of reasons, the offer is always made to residents on their departure for Carol and/ or Kelly to keep in touch with them for further services. If clients are not residents or if meeting in the shelter is not practical for whatever reason, home visits may be coordinated so that both workers see the family in one visit & each worker has time & attention with clients, both independently &, for part of the appointment time, as a group. In the shelter there is a designated office space for women to meet with Carol, & both an indoor & outdoor area for children. Good working relationships in the community with other agencies, also means that there are several locations available for use to hold these visits & particularly if they don’t live close to the shelter or if where they live doesn’t make it an appropriate place to meet.
This partnership is founded in the belief that if you are going to break down the intergenerational cycle of abuse, then it’s important that both women & any children they have receive support & counselling. We know that the effects of domestic violence can range from emotional issues to wellness challenges that may include sleep disruption & problems maintaining healthy routines & habits. The challenges mothers & children face are significant & can evolve & change over time, making the process of moving forward somewhat slow. The efficiency & convenience of “doubling up” on receiving services by having the two workers meeting with family members simultaneously can be very helpful.
YOU KNOW THE TYPE
You will remember that, out of their concern for our privacy, the (Harper) government abolished the long form Census questionnaire & soon, the gun registry. Now it proposes a law giving the government great, sweeping powers to snoop on Canadians who use the Internet? It isn’t logical.
And it isn’t logical, but that’s from our point of view. The Harper government is not trying to make rational sense. It has a ‘To Do’ list. It doesn’t need facts. That’s why the Census long form was worse than useless to them. It doesn’t need to identify a problem to want a solution, that’s why it doesn’t matter that crime has been going down for decades & Canadians say they feel safe. We’re getting more prisons whether we need them or not. It doesn’t need to know whether something works to adopt it, that’s why we’re getting minimum sentences. Since we have more prisons we need to populate them, right?
It has a ‘To Do’ list & there is no questioning it. Like what Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said, when he became irritated with how democracy works (he got questions from other members of Parliament about the bill). He tried to cut debate short by saying people can “either stand with us on this bill or stand with child pornographers.”
You know the type, ‘my way or the highway.’ But usually you meet with them in a bad marriage, or a bad job, or a police state, or in a schoolyard rather than Parliament…
- Excerpts, Should I tell Mr. Toews what I’m doing in the washroom?, Jody Dallaire, Times & Transcript, 15 Mar 2012, http://bit.ly/GSx5pM
LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY IN SOCIAL PROGRAM SPENDING
Governments have no need to be prudent or accountable in their spending of the Canada Social Transfer money - how the federal government finances social programs including post-secondary education, social & child development services - since there are no conditions, no mandatory monitoring or reporting, & no enforcement. There is no accountability from the legislators to citizens for fulfilling social rights & providing adequate programs, & no accountability from the federal executive branch to the House of Commons for spending federal money on approved purposes. Also, provinces are not required to report to the federal level how they spent the funds nor the outcomes. It is currently very hard for citizens to understand the roles & players involved in funding & delivering social services, & track where the money is spent once they are aware of whom is spending it. If citizens were to take issue with the way the CST is spent in a province, they lack a mechanism of action to address the issue.
The transfers, which at one time were constructive tools for realizing social rights, became destructive when the federal government (in a process begun in the 1990s) unilaterally reduced the amount transferred to provinces & eliminated the conditions. Advocates concerned with human rights have called for the government to: reinstate conditions; introduce new standards for post secondary education, housing, & poverty; & to create new child care service programs with enforceable standards.
At the last meeting of the Council of the Federation, the Premiers made health care renewal a priority with the establishment of the Health Care Innovation Working Group composed of all provincial health ministers. The accountability of the Canadian Social Transfer requires equal consideration. Since the Harper Government came into power in 2006, the provincial Ministers Responsible for Social Services have not met with their federal counterpart. The Canadian Association of Social Workers is encouraging Canadians to make the renewal of accountability to the Canada Social Transfer a priority.
- Excerpts, Canada Social Transfer Project: Accountability Matters, Cdn Assoc of Social Workers, March 2012, http://bit.ly/GQCknf
AN ALTERNATIVE FEDERAL BUDGET
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Alternative Federal Budget 2012 (AFB released last week) confronts the 2 inconvenient truths of our time: climate change, & widening inequality. It injects demand into the economy with major investment on infrastructure, R&D, health, education, child care, public transit, housing, & renewable energy. It would increase tax on top incomes, reverse the cuts to corporate tax cuts, close tax loopholes, apply financial activities taxes, introduce progressive green taxes.
On women’s equality: The AFB will address key barriers: the wage & income gap between women & men; the lack of affordable child care; & the personal, social & economic devastation caused by violence against women. The AFB will ensure equal pay for work of equal value, eliminate inequitable tax breaks & tax policies that result in under-employment for women; ensure social assistance rates meet the costs of food, clothing, & housing; fund a national child care plan that increases the number of affordable public & not-for-profit child care spaces; increase funding to Status of Women; & implement the recommendations of the 2009 Report of the Auditor General on gender-based analysis.
Read how it would be paid for. - http://bit.ly/GKD9eh
EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION
Students at Shippensburg Univ. in Pennsylvania can get the "morning-after" pill for $25 from a vending machine installed in their health clinic at the request of the student government. It provides EC as well as condoms & pregnancy tests. The pill is available without a prescription to anyone 17 or older (all current students are that age or older). Taking Plan B within 72 hours of rape, condom failure or forgetting regular contraception can cut the chances of pregnancy by 89% (best if taken within 24 hrs). Vending machines are also reported in U.K. clinics. - International Consortium for Emergency Contraception.
Surveys were mailed to a sample of pharmacists in Florida. 56% of respondents incorrectly answered that EC causes birth defects & 46% that it causes abortion. Only 22% said that EC can be purchased in advance of need. Many felt uncomfortable dispensing to adolescents (61%) & men (58%). Correct information about EC was the most important predictor of pharmacists' dispensing EC. – The role of pharmacists & emergency contraception, Contraception, Feb 2011.
An Australian study of 632 women found most women had heard of EC pills & 26% had used it. Only 48% were aware that it was available from pharmacies without a prescription. A third believed the EC pill to be an abortion pill. - Contraception 2011;83(2), http://bit.ly/GJQrPj
A U.S. study of emergency doctors showed that a large proportion prescribed EC pills to teens but did so infrequently. 43% incorrectly answered over half of the questions about EC. Physicians were more likely to report prescribing EC if they had answered correctly more than 3 questions & were less likely to report prescribing if they identified more than 5 barriers to teen EC use (ex.: concern for birth defects, lack of follow-up or clinical resources, discouraging regular contraceptive use). - Pediatrics. March 2009.
IN PARTING
I wish someone would have told me that, just because I'm a girl, it doesn’t mean I have to get married.
- Marlo Thomas.