Transna&onal Founda&ons for Ethical Prac&ce in Interven&ons Against Violence Against Women
and Child Abuse
Why ethics?
• We share principles across Europe, but put them into prac6ce in ways that fit different legal and social welfare structures
• Ethics as the founda6on for human rela6ons – underpin the dignity and integrity in human rights, and no6ons of the rela6onal self
• Review of ethical theories revealed it had limited purchase on ‘interpersonal’ violence
Star6ng points 1
• To enter the arenas of VAW and CAN is to encounter complex intersec6ons of power rela6ons: gender, genera6on, race/ethnicity, na6onality, faith
• A matrix of rights and responsibili6es which professionals have to navigate
• Interven6on: venire – to go, inter – in-‐between or inside. Professionals are stepping into the lives of others, which raises a set of ethical issues and dilemmas which also are linked to power: of the state, of belonging and knowing
Star6ng points 2 • The harms of violence and abuse I develop and defend a view of the self as fundamentally
rela5onal – capable of being undone by violence. But also of being remade in connec5on to others. (Brison 2002)
• Violence removes control over one’s body and mind, it changes the internal sense of self and our rela6onships to others.
• All interven6on should begin from a recogni6on that every subsequent interac6on can be part of re-‐s6tching social connec6ons or compound the harms.
• The goal is not just to protect from further abuse but to expand ‘space for ac6on’, to restore the freedom/liberty that has been interfered with.
Contexts maXer • Violence against women or children tends to be a course of
conduct, repeated over 6me, rather than discrete ‘incidents’ of crime
• Each person has a complex story which they need to tell, to have the abuse recognised and named and an assurance that this should not happen again in the future
• For many it may also connect to other forms of abuse in their lives – being bullied at school, the everyday ‘micro aggressions’ of sexism and racism -‐ Micro aggressions are slights, snubs, or insults which communicate hos6le or nega6ve messages to a member of a minority or other non-‐dominant group which reinforce stereotypes
Ethics maXer We need to tread carefully to respect her rights and just find out... where she wants to go next with it. (NGO, IPV, E&W) The only thing they wanted me to do was to leave home and go to a shelter but that is so unfair! He is the one who should leave the house. (…) everything in my house was bought with my money. (Woman, IPV, PT)
• Ethics encompass ac6on and a^tude, what we do and how we do it • A professional could act with care and respect yet s6ll fail to take any protec6ve ac6on, another may be sharp and unsympathe6c but take protec6ve ac6on • Ethical prac6ce combines the two: respect for human dignity plus protec6ve ac6on • Everyday ethics: are we approaching someone with genuine interest and concern, with the inten6on to be fair and just, to do more good than we do harm?
Beyond vic6mism
• Kathleen Barry (1979) • Crea5ng the role and status of the vic5m is the prac5ce I call
vic5mism. (…) she is assigned vic5m status and then seen only in terms of what has happened to her. (…) It creates a framework for others to know her not as a person, but as a vic5m, someone to whom violence has been done. Vic5mism is an objec5fica5on which establishes new standards for defining experience, those standards dismiss any ques5on of will, and deny that the woman even whilst enduring sexual violence is a living, changing, growing, interac5ve person. (p38-‐39)
In connec6on and conversa6on • Begin from an interest to move in connec6on to, and conversa6on with, the person whose integrity and dignity has been violated.
• This conversa6on is a joint explora6on of the past, present and poten6al futures – what are their hopes and jus6ce goals?
• Our core responsibility is protec6on, not simply to end violence, but to support finding ways of living beyond the harms, enabling women and young people to remake the self and (re)build social connec6on
Ethical dilemmas • To soon, too much, too liXle, too late – whose 6me scales? • When is intervening without consent legi6mate? • Transparency -‐ how possible is it to be honest and open about
what may happen next? • Par6cipa6on -‐ how much control and influence can the
survivor have in the process? • Ethics are tools to help us think about these issues, and there
is always a need for support and supervision here • Shie focus away from not making mistakes, only preven6ng
the worst , to building trust and connec6on and enabling good outcomes
Beyond ‘cultural competence’ • Diversity of Europe – mul6ple histories, values and meanings • Stereotypes of en6re people/na6onali6es – but are huge
varia6ons of belief, iden66es and poli6cs • Impossible to have even cursory knowledge of the range of
backgrounds, histories and contexts that one might encounter • Danger of viewing ‘culture’ as some fixed, unchanging
essence – leading to aXribu6ons of ‘us’ and ‘them’; this implicitly excludes minority children, families, women and men from the circle of trust and belonging.
• Seeing minori6sed women as more likely to accept abuse, not even define it as violence, but women we interviewed were clear that behaviour was not acceptable. They did not believe it could be stopped, or not know who they could trust to support them.
Professional curiosity • To be a hearer who seeks to understand from another’s perspec6ve, to imagine what might be troubling them and explore this in conversa6on
• Placing each woman, child, parent in the posi6on of a knower, a holder of knowledge about their history, social loca6on, cultural and social experiences
• Ask and engage -‐ ensure you understand rather than assume. What does it mean in their context to be a vic6m? What concerns and fears do they have about engaging with state and support agencies?
• Informa6onal self-‐determina6on
Specialist services We sort of comfort each other by hearing our stories. (Woman, TSE, E&W) It strengthens you, where you just feel now you can breathe for yourself (…) that was the first 5me I felt safe. (Woman, TSE, E&W)
• Sensi6vity to sugges6ons that they are worth less than others because of what has been done to them and who they are perceived to be • Minority women may feel a ‘triple defensiveness’: about their vic6misa6on; how their mothering will be judged; and about being a minority woman. Specialist services run by women from minori6es create a different basis for interac6on • Mutual support from others in similar posi6ons are where the complexi6es of loca6on and iden66es can be fully ar6culated and recognised
Not one lens but a kaleidoscope • Ethical engagements cannot be craeed if one is thinking only
through rules/guidelines. • They must be linked to the experiences, wishes and needs of
par6cular persons • Joint considera6on of the intended and unintended
consequences of various courses of ac6on • Culture/ethnicity as one lens professionals look through in
their search for understanding and appropriate interven6ons, others – age, gender, disability – may also be relevant
• Our lens needs to be more like a kaleidoscope, allowing for varia6ons and changes of horizons between individuals and over 6me
Last words • She’s the one that is there for me. Now I am relaxed not like
before. (…) She knows everything about me... I trust her that she is not going to let it go (Woman, TSE, DE)
• Yes, absolutely, immediately, the first conversa5on, I got the impression: this lady listens to you, she's there for you and she believes you (Woman, IPV, SI)
• My tutor is an incredible person... Inside the ins5tu5on she treats me like anyone else, outside the ins5tu5on she is a mother and treats me as if I was her own daughter. (Adolescent, CAN, PT)
• It was all confiden5al and private. They [NGO] were not sharing my personal maXers to anybody else – [which is] – really important... they really went deep down and understood. (Woman, IPV, E&W)