West Coast LEAF

Our Work

Re-envisioning family safety and well-being at the intersections of family policing and gender-based violence

Family well-being, Gender-based violence Project

About the project

Alongside families and advocates, this project will identify the changes needed to BC’s laws, policies, programs, and services to ensure the safety and well-being of families impacted by gender-based violence and family policing. This project will foreground the perspectives and expertise of Indigenous, racialized, migrant, and disabled women and people who are marginalized based on gender.

The project is guided by a steering committee of Family Well-being Coalition members.

The research methods include:

  • Reviews of literature.
  • Interviews with community members, advocates, and other experts.
  • Co-hosted community dialogues with three partner organizations across so-called BC.

West Coast LEAF believes that everyone should be safe from violence, and that parents or caregivers and their kids should be supported to stay together safely. The goals of this project are:

  • Learn how gender-based violence and encounters with BC’s family policing system can combine to increase risk of harm for people and families.
  • Explore what services and supports would prevent or decrease the harmful impacts of gender-based violence and BC’s family policing system for people and families.
  • Identify what changes to laws, policies, programs, and services are needed to improve the safety and wellbeing of people and families.  
  • Push for changes by sharing research findings with participants, communities, the public, and advocates.

Project ethics

The project is rooted in the Family Well-being Coalition’s values of equality, justice, accountability, decolonization, wholism, trauma-informed approaches, family- and relationship-centerdness, cultural safety, harm reduction, and self-determination. It has been approved by the Community Research Ethics Office.

Title in middle reads: Our ethics: Supporting safety and well-being for families impacted by gender-based violence and family policing In the middle are the project values with a line drawing of people standing together on grass. There’s a semi-circle in yellow and red encircling them. Text reads: Justice, Cultural safety, Family-centered, Relationship-centered, Accountability, Self determination, Decolonization, Harm reduction, Trauma informed, Wholism, Equality. To the left hand side, text reads: Our goal. There's an image of hands open and facing upwards. Text between the hands reads: Identify the changes needed to BC’s laws, policies, programs, and services to ensure the safety, equality, and well-being of families. Text below image reads: Methodology. The backdrop is a pink swirl behind text. Three green leaves on the left-hand side. Text reads: Steering committee and interviews: Guidance and participation by community members and advocates.Community partnerships and dialogues: Co-hosted dialogues with 3 community organizations in BC. Coalition building for action. Text below that reads: Free, prior, informed, and ongoing consent . Choice to be identified or not, to review notes and review your comments the day of the session. Image to the right of people sitting around a fire. Text reads: Voluntary participation. Some privacy risks with sharing in group. Choice to withdraw at any time and still receive honorarium. The right hand side of the visual starts with text reading: About community dialogues. Below that there is an image of cup with steam. A taxi voucher, image of elder, a book with text reading literacy and language, and a person with text reading: childcare supports, other needs also. Text below reads: 8-10 participants, Ages 17+, Honorarium, 40-50 participants across BC, Supports are available! Text below that reads: Knowledge sharing. Participants and researchers co-develop project findings. Below that there is an image of finger pointing up, text reads: push for systemic change. Priorities: Accessibility, Community use, Cultural safety in the bottom middle of visual text reads: Have questions about these research ethics Image of blank box beneath it. The bottom of the visual contains logos and acknowledgements. Image of West Coast LEAF logo. Women and Gender Equality Canada logo. Casseyex consulting logo with text reading: Michelle Buccholz. Text reads in center reads: Project led by West Coast LEAF. This project has been approved by Community Research Ethics Board and funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada

See image description for full alt text.

Download Project Ethics as PDF.

Get in touch

For questions, please get in touch with Sharnelle Jenkins-Thompson, Manager of Community Outreach at community@westcoastleaf.org.

Acknowledgements

Our sincere thanks to all those who contributed to the development of this report. This project is made possible by generous funding from Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE).

Women and Gender Equality Canada
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Publications

Project ethics: Re-envisioning family safety and well-being.pdf (441 kb)

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