Violence
Principles for preventing and eliminating violence against women in housing cooperatives
Preventing and Eliminating Violence Against Women
Violence against women is one of the most systematic and widespread violations of human rights and is anchored in sexist social structures. This violence can come in many different forms, including verbal, physical, psychological, sexual and economic violence, sometimes in multiple forms at once.
Violence in Housing Cooperatives
Many of the testimonies collected as part of the project revealed concrete examples of violent situations experienced by women in housing cooperatives.
The women interviewed talked about the different types of violence which can occur in cooperatives: interfering in women’s lives by spying on them, being stalked, insulted, humiliated, manipulated, threatened, harassed, assaulted, bullied, denigrated, excluded, knocking on women’s doors in order to pressure them and accosting women in communal spaces, for example.
Abuses of Power
These testimonies show the realities that women’s centres and feminist support workers have described for many years. These are clearly examples of abuses of power, where someone in a position of power seeks to control someone else, by using different strategies to keep them feeling inferior or by forcing them to behave in a way that matches the desires of the person in power.
This violence can be linked to the hesitancy of many women in cooperatives to seek out positions of power, because these women fear finding themselves in situations of conflict and facing different forms of violence.
« I was the president, but some residents felt that a woman could not be in a position of power. I experienced sexism and bullying, and women who were involved in other committees had similar experiences. »
« Both verbal violence and non-verbal behaviours, such as sighs, are obstacles to participation. »
« A woman was chairing [a meeting] while a violent and intimidating member would not stop speaking. »
The Statistics Speak for Themselves
* Data for Quebec
Some Ideas from Female Residents
- Put a diversity committee in place in order to fight prejudice and work on subjects such as nonviolent communication;
- Reinforce relationships between housing cooperatives and the Centre d’éducation et d’action des femmes de Montréal (CÉAF), which created a traveling exhibition on the violence women experience in their own homes.
Guidelines from the Project’s Coordination Committee
For cooperatives
- Create safe, women-only spaces in cooperatives such as workshops for women or women’s committees;
- Make resources for intimate partner violence and sexual violence available;
- Adopt rules and procedures which will allow for the prevention of violence and harassment.
For federations
- Equip the organization and its staff with an understanding of issues related to violence, harassment and bullying against women, in order to better define, prevent and penalize violence. This can be done in collaboration with local resources;
- Equip cooperatives with the tools to prevent violence and harassment, for instance, through adopting a code of ethics or a zero tolerance policy.
For support groups (technical resource groups and housing committees)
- Equip the organization and its staff with an understanding of issues related to violence, harassment and bullying against women, in order to better define, prevent and penalize violence. This can be done in collaboration with local resources.
Taking Action
As part of the project, actions were taken and tools were developed in order to increase awareness of different forms of violence and ensure that cooperatives and their members are supported when dealing with these different forms of violence.
Declaration of Principles
As part of the project, actions were taken and tools were developed in order to increase awareness of different forms of violence and ensure that cooperatives and their members are supported when dealing with these different forms of violence.
The Power Dance Workshop
In order to make cooperatives and their members aware of bullying and power dynamics, a workshop was developed in collaboration with the Centre d’éducation et d’action des femmes de Montréal (CÉAF) and the Women and Housing Committee as part of the “Quartier libéré des violences faites aux femmes” (“A Neighbourhood Without Violence Against Women”) project. The workshop leader’s guide will allow you to adapt the workshop to your needs.