The local results of the 2nd Alberta Men’s Attitudes about Violence against Women Survey were released on Monday in a joint media conference hosted by Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters (ACWS) and the YWCA. With International Women’s Day on Tuesday, March 8, the release was timely, as the results show a shift in the right direction while also reminding us there is much work to be done.
Adopted from a similar Australian survey, ACWS and Leger used a “Gender Equity Scale” as a benchmark to measure men’s attitudes. The gender equity scores have increased provincially and in Calgary since 2012 – a positive indicator of progressive change relating to gender issues.
Another positive from the survey is Calgary men’s overwhelming response that violence and abuse against women is a concern to them (97%). They are also more likely (from 51% in 2012 to 67% in 2016) to recognize that violence against women and girls impacts the women they care about in their lives.
Councillor Shane Keating highlighted in Monday’s conference, studies such as this help us gauge the pulse of Calgarians and work towards building a community which is safe and equitable. From a government perspective, prioritizing preventive social services and making investments in many community agencies is important to support the work they do in shaping society. He added on an individual level, it’s important to speak up against abusive behaviours; violence is never okay.
According to the survey results, most Calgary men agree. 15% reported having witnessed abusive behaviour toward a woman in the past year in a social environment. Two-thirds of these men checked to see if the woman was okay or needed help, while 60% said something or challenged the man’s behaviour.
Jonathan Hutton, YWCA of Calgary Clinical Supervisor, spoke to the positive shifts he’s seen in his work with men in YWCA Counselling and Personal Development programs. In 2015, the YWCA helped more than 600 Calgary men transform their values and beliefs about violence against their partners.
“Overall, we’ve seen an increase in men’s desire to have healthy relationships with women in recent years,” says Jonathan.
The survey also uncovered some common misconceptions; for example, 61% of Calgary men did not understand why women might stay in an abusive relationship.
“This statistic points to the lack of understanding of the dynamics of abuse, the multiple financial barriers women face, the implications for children and the fact that women are at high risk of being killed by a controlling abusive spouse after they leave a relationship,” commented Jan Reimer, Executive Director of the Alberta Council of Women’s Shelters.
Although there is still a lot of work to do, we are encouraged to see a change for the better in the responses in general, especially during a tough economic climate and with the survey taking place during a high-profile sexual assault trial featuring rigorous defense tactics.
Deb Tomlinson, Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services, says the study findings indicate that rape culture appears to be as great a concern in Alberta as it was four years ago.
“Until we can shift from rape culture to a culture of “We believe you”, the reporting rate of sexual assault will continue to remain at an alarming 3%,” says Deb. “This means survivors don’t get the help they need; don’t access the criminal justice system and offenders are not held accountable for the crimes they have committed. This has serious consequences for all of us.”
We take heart that the many hardworking community partners – governments, not-for-profits and women’s shelters – are coming together to help shift these attitudes and move towards a safer, more equitable community for all Calgarians. Individuals can play a huge role as well to further improve the equity score, through learning about women’s equity issues, listening and sharing women’s experiences, and speaking up and challenging inappropriate behaviour.
