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Women Survivors of Sexual Violence andPartner Abuse:
Exploring Transformative Learning
through Social Action Participation
Susan H. Young M.Ad.Ed. (Candidate) &
Elizabeth Lange, Ph.D. (Supervisor)
St. Francis Xavier University
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oorways to the layers of selves
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Integration
Invite the Mind
To spiral to the centre of the Heart
Where the exquisite clarity of Spirit
Lives in the marrow,
Juicy and serene.
SH Young, 2011
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1. Research Project Question
2. Background
3. Methodology
4. Research Methods
5. Findings
6. Implications
Outline
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Research Project Question
Do women survivors of sexual violence and
partner abuse experience transformative learning
by engaging in social action on a Survivors’
Advisory Council?
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Background: Identifying the Gap
Adult educators are usually social activists who
challenge learners and systems about justice issues
(Friere, 1970; Lange, 2009; Mezirow, 2009;
O’Sullivan, 2008; Taylor, 2009; & Tisdell, 1998,and others)
Yet very few adult educators talk about violence
against women
(hooks, 2000; Horsmann, 1999; Johnson-Bailey,
2005; Price, 2005; Stalker, 2005).
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Goals:
• Explore survivors’ experiences• Engage communities in change
Guiding Principle:
• Survivors’ experiences and voices
are valued as experts
Research Project
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Any act of gender-based violence that resultsin, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, ormental harm or suffering to women, including
threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrarydeprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.
United Nations, 1993
Background: Definition of
Violence Against Women
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Survivors who come together to improveservices for victims of sexual violenceand partner abuse.
Engage in public education about theirlived experience as survivors during thedisclosure process, primarily with service
providers and Coordinating CommitteesAgainst Violence
Background: Survivors’ Advisory
Councils
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Methodology
1. Qualitative
2. Critical ethnography
3. Lens of feminist and critical theory
4. Transformative Learning Theory
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Research Methods
1. Data Collection: Two Ontario Survivors’ Advisory
Councils
• Eight individual interviews
Key preliminary findings:
• Two participant check-in groups
• One focus group with self-disclosed survivors
2. Data Analysis
• Inductive and Deductive
• Started with themes then expanded to categories
linked to larger social movements
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Dying to the self
Photo by SH Young
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Six Key Findings
1. Powerlessness as a Victim
2. Finding Voice
3. Complex Identities4. Social Movement Learning
5. Personal and Political
6. Social Activism
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Data Analysis
1. Oppression and Ways of Knowing
2. Political and Multidimensional
Transformative Learning
3. Development of Critical
Consciousness
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1. Adult Educators
2. VAW Sector3. Survivors’ Advisory Councils
Implications of the Research
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Self-Acceptance
THE STRUGGLE TO BE SOMETHING MORE
THAN THE PERSON OTHERS HAVE MADE,
TO CONSTRUCT AND THEN LIVE UP TO A
SET OF OUR OWN EXPECTATIONS IS ONEOF THE MOST COMPELLING STRUGGLES
OF OUR ADULT LIVES. Daloz, 1999
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Paddling new rivers
Photo by SH Young
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“I think being a survivor … is key [to making change].You know it’s easy for people to listen to what you’re
saying, but when they know that this has happened toyou, they’re [really] going to listen. It’s not justsomebody blabbing away about statistics or whateverelse. I think the fact that I share my story and my
experiences, and personalize it, I think that is huge tomaking any kind of change, or impact, on somebody.I think that’s key.”
Samantha