Moving Beyond Violence Together
Land Acknowledgement
Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region is located on the Haldimand tract, the traditional territories of the Chonnonton, Anishnaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. As we understand, the Haldimand tract granted ‘six miles deep from each side of the river beginning at Lake Erie and extending in that proportion to the head of the said river1.’ Today, the Chonnonton, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples only have rights to less than five percent of this land.
As a leading agency in the domestic violence sector of Waterloo Region, we strive towards violence-free communities while providing education and support services. With this, we recognize the disproportionate rates and victimization of Indigenous families and communities regarding domestic and sexual violence.
As Women’s Crisis Services continues to benefit from the occupation of this land, we recognize our responsibility to acknowledge, respond and take action. We are engaging in larger conversations to understand the systemic effects of colonization and how this in turn perpetuates domestic and sexual violence. It is our responsibility and due diligence to ensure thorough consultation of Indigenous peoples and/or resources before the implementation of service focused on supporting Indigenous peoples.
It is our ongoing mission to actively challenge colonial systems both in our communities and agency. It is also our continued responsibility to break down barriers, decolonize our institutions, take ownership, act in solidarity and centring Indigenous voices.
1 Six Nations Council. “The Haldimand Treaty of 1784.” Accessed September 15, 2021. https://www.sixnations.ca/LandsResources/HaldProc.htm
Organizational EDIA Statement
At Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region, we recognize the disproportionately high rates of violence experienced by marginalized and oppressed communities, including women, Indigenous, Black, racialized, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people, those with disabilities and individuals experiencing poverty.
We acknowledge the impact of patriarchy and colonization as we work to understand the systemic effects and how it perpetuates domestic violence.
We commit to breaking down barriers, decolonizing our practices, taking ownership, and providing kind, compassionate services that centre the intersectional identities and experiences of the people we support.
We hold ourselves accountable to embodied learning as we do the hard work of understanding these injustices and our privileges, and how it impacts our teams, clients and communities as we move forward towards equity.
Glossary of Terms
2SLGBTQIA+ –
CCDI – 2SLGBTQI+ is an acronym that stands for Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, and Intersex.1 A plus sign or asterisk added to any acronym indicates the inclusion of sexual orientations and gender identities not explicitly included in the acronym. There are many acronyms that may be preferred by different individuals.
UBC – This acronym stands for: Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer (or Questioning), Intersex, Asexual. The plus sign (+) represents all the different, new and growing ways that people might identify with, as well as the ways that we continually expand our understanding of sexual and gender diversity.
Colonialism/Colonization
CCDI – The practice of domination where one nation occupies land for subjugating, conquering, and exploiting the colonized territory and its people
OAITH – Colonialism is the historical practice of European expansion into territories already inhabited by Indigenous peoples for the purposes of acquiring new lands and resources. This expansion is rooted in the violent suppression of Indigenous peoples’ governance, legal, social, and cultural structures. Colonialism attempts to force Indigenous peoples to accept and integrate into institutions that are designed to force them to conform with the structures of the colonial state.
“Colonialism remains an ongoing process, shaping both the structure and the quality of the relationship between settlers and Indigenous peoples” (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2016).
519 – The process of focusing on and devaluing people’s differences in order to dominate and control them, including various economic, political and social policies by which a powerful group
maintains or extends control over other people or areas.
Decolonization
CCDI – An ongoing process that aims to deconstruct settler colonial ideologies such as white supremacy, give value to Indigenous knowledge, and dismantle power imbalances. Decolonization is the active work to give back the colonized territory’s independence and undo the effects of colonialism on the social, political, and economic aspects of a people’s life.
RET – Decolonization
1. Decolonization may be defined as the active resistance against colonial powers, and a shifting of power towards political, economic, educational, cultural, psychic independence and power that originates from a colonized nation’s own indigenous culture. This process occurs politically and also applies to personal and societal psychic, cultural, political, agricultural, and educational deconstruction of colonial oppression.
2. Per Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang: “Decolonization doesn’t have a synonym”; it is not a substitute for ‘human rights’ or ‘social justice’, though undoubtedly, they are connected in various ways. Decolonization demands an Indigenous framework and a centering of Indigenous land, Indigenous sovereignty, and Indigenous ways of thinking.
OAITH – Decolonization is the “repatriation of Indigenous land and life” (Tuck and Yang, 2012). It involves a dismantling of settler colonial structures and relationships. In a settler colonial context, decolonization is inherently unsettling, and not reducible to civil rights and social justice.
Decolonization “is accountable to Indigenous sovereignty and futurity” (Tuck and Yang 2012: 35), that is, to Indigenous self-determination and self-governance. For non-Indigenous people, supporting decolonization “can require us to locate ourselves within the context of colonization in complicated ways, often as simultaneously oppressed and complicit” (Walia 2012).
Disability
CCDI – Refers to a broad range of medical conditions an individual can have from birth, due to an accident, or developed over time, which impact an individual’s ability to function. Disability can also be described as a broad range of functional or social limitations that impact an individual’s ability to perform an activity. These two definitions reflect two perspectives on disability: the medical model and the social model. Disabilities can be visible or invisible, permanent, or temporary, or episodic, and can include, but are not limited to:
• Addiction (e.g., alcohol, drugs, gambling)• Developmental disability (e.g., autism, ADHD, Down syndrome)
• Health disability/chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes, cancer, asthma)
• Learning disability (e.g., dyslexia, dysnomia)
• Mental health condition/mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia, depression, anxiety disorder)
• Physical disability (e.g., cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, amputation)
• Sensory disability (e.g., hearing or vision loss)
UBC – Disability is a complex phenomenon, reflecting an interaction between features of a person’s body and mind and features of the society in which they live. Because of its complexity, there is no single, harmonized “operational” definition of disability. A disability can occur at any time in a person’s life; some people are born with a disability, while others develop a disability later in life. It can be permanent, temporary or episodic. Disability can be a sense of identity, community, and pride.
519 – Under the medical model, this term refers to a limitation or loss of physiological abilities, whether apparent or not. These can be physical, cognitive, learning, and visual disabilities. Under the social model, disability is identified as a disadvantage or restriction of activity caused by systemic barriers, negative attitudes, and exclusion by society.
Disproportionate
Oxford – to an extent that is too large or too small in comparison with something else; out of proportion
E.g. When we are talking about some groups of people experiencing disproportionately high rates of
violence, it means that they are experiencing more domestic violence compared to others and this is out of proportion
Embodiment
Oxford – a tangible or visible form of an idea, quality or feeling; the representation of something in a tangible or visible form
University of Minnesota – Our movement and body make visible all of who we are: our mood, personality, history, family, and culture. We are embodied beings. From the moment we are born, our bodies are essential to our learning, growth and relationship with others.
E.g. When we are talking about holding ourselves accountable to embodied learning, we mean that our actions will show that we are truly committed to the learning we are doing.
Equity/ Equitable
UBC – Equity refers to achieving parity in policy, process and outcomes for historically, persistently, or systemically marginalized people and groups while accounting for diversity. It considers power, access, opportunities, treatment, impacts and outcomes, in three main areas:
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- Representational equity: the proportional participation at all levels of an institution;
- Resource equity: the distribution of resources in order to close equity gaps; and
- Equity-mindedness: the demonstration of an awareness of, and willingness to, address equity issues.
UofT – the fair and respectful treatment of all people and involves the creation of opportunities and the reduction of disparities in opportunities and outcomes for diverse communities. It also acknowledges that these disparities are rooted in historical and contemporary injustices and disadvantages (Equity, Diversity & Inclusion | VPRI, n.d.).
OAITH – Equity refers to “The practice of ensuring fair, inclusive, and respectful treatment of all people, with consideration of individual and group diversities. Access to services, supports and opportunities and attaining economic, political, and social fairness cannot be achieved by treating individuals in exactly the same way. Equity honours and accommodates the specific needs of individuals/ groups” (the 519 Glossary).
519 – The practice of ensuring fair, inclusive and respectful treatment of all people, withconsideration of individual and group diversities. Access to services, supports and opportunities and attaining economic, political and social fairness cannot be achieved by treating individuals in exactly the same way. Equity honours and accommodates the specific needs of individuals/ groups.
Indigenous
CCDI – An umbrella term that encompasses the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples of Canada.446 Globally, Indigenous Peoples refers to the people who have occupied specific lands since time immemorial.447
UBC – The term ‘Indigenous’ encompasses First Nations, Métis and Inuit people, either collectively or separately, and is a preferred term in international usage, e.g., the ‘U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.’ In its derivation from international movements, it is associated more with activism than government policy and so has emerged, for many, as the preferred term (Source: Indigenous People’s Language Guidelines).
OAITH – Indigenous refers to communities, peoples, and nations that “are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal systems” (United Nations 2016).
519 – An umbrella term for self-identified descendants of pre-colonial/pre-settler societies. In Canada these include the First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples as separate peoples with unique heritages, economic and political systems, languages, cultural practices, and spiritual beliefs. While the collective term has offered a sense of solidarity among some indigenous communities, the term should not serve to erase the distinct histories, languages, cultural practices, and sovereignty of the more than fifty nations that lived in Canada prior to European colonization.
Intersectionality
CCDI – A term coined by Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw to describe how social identities may overlap to create compounding barriers for individuals. It is described as a framework for approaching issues from multiple perspectives and understanding how multiple groups, or individuals with multiple identities, may be affected. For example, approaching feminism with an intersectional lens would involve acknowledging and addressing the unique barriers faced by women of colour, women with disabilities, or trans women.
UBC – The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity as they apply to a given individual or group. Intersectional identities create overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.
UofT – the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and independent systems of discrimination or disadvantage (Crenshaw – 2013)
OAITH – Intersectionality “is based on two key ideas. First, viewing a problem through an intersectional lens reveals the nature of discrimination that flows from the intersection of multiple identities. When oppressions based on two or more identity categories intersect, a new form of oppression is created that is different from the constituent forms of oppression added together. […] The second idea connects individual and group experiences of disadvantage based on intersecting identities to broader systems of power and privilege. In doing so, intersectionality recasts identity categories not as objective descriptors of an individual’s innate characteristics, but as socially constructed categories that operate as vectors for privilege and vulnerability within our social, cultural, political, economic and legal power structures” (Ajele and McGill, 2020).
Marginalization/ Marginalized
UBC – A social process by which individuals or groups are (intentionally or unintentionally) distanced from access to power and resources and constructed as insignificant, peripheral, or less valuable/privileged to a community or “mainstream” society. The term ‘minoritized’ is also used to connote the same meaning.
RET – A social process by which individuals or groups are (intentionally or unintentionally) distanced from access to power and resources and constructed as insignificant, peripheral, or less valuable/privileged to a community or “mainstream” society. This term describes a social process, so as not to imply a lack of agency. Marginalized groups or people are those excluded from mainstream social, economic, cultural, or political life. Examples of marginalized groups include, but are by no means limited to, groups excluded due to race, religion, political or cultural group, age, gender, or financial status. To what extent such populations are marginalized, however, is context specific and reliant on the cultural organization of the social site in question.
UofT – A social process by which individuals or groups are distanced from access to power and resources and constructed as less valuable/privileged to a community or society.
Oppression
CCDI – The unfair treatment or control of marginalized groups to maintain status, privilege, or power
RET – The systematic subjugation of one social group by a more powerful social group for the social, economic, and political benefit of the more powerful social group. Rita Hardiman and Bailey Jackson state that oppression exists when the following 4 conditions are found:
• the oppressor group has the power to define reality for themselves and others,
• the target groups take in and internalize the negative messages about them and end upcooperating with the oppressors (thinking and acting like them),
• genocide, harassment, and discrimination are systematic and institutionalized, so that individuals are not necessary to keep it going, and
• members of both the oppressor and target groups are socialized to play their roles as normal and correct.
Oppression = Power + Prejudice
UofT – Oppression (1): The use of power or privilege by a socially, politically, economically, culturally dominant group to take away power and silence one social group or category. Note that anti-oppression seeks to recognize this oppression and mitigate its effects to equalize power imbalance in our communities. Oppression (2): the systemic misuse of power – Oppression enables dominant groups to exert power and control over target groups by limiting rights, freedom, access to resources and information, and in other ways.
OAITH – Oppression refers to a pattern of persistent and systematic disadvantage imposed on large groups of people, in many domains of social life, including employment, social status, treatment by the legal system, and vulnerability to violence. Oppression generally entails “the domination of subordinate groups in society by powerful (politically, economically, socially, and culturally) groups. It entails the various ways that this domination occurs, including how structural arrangements favour the dominant over subordinate group” (Mullaly, 2002 in LGBTQ2S Toolkit, n.d.).
519 – The obvious and subtle ways dominant groups unjustly maintain status, privilege and power over others, using physical, psychological, social, or economic threats or force. Frequently, an explicit ideology is used to sanction the unfair subjugation of an individual or group by a more powerful individual or group, which causes injustices in everyday interactions between marginalized groups and the dominant group.
Patriarchy
CCDI – Societal structures that exist where men hold the majority of the power and control, and masculinity and maleness are perceived as superior.
RET – A historically based, institutionally perpetuated system of exploitation and oppression in which those assigned male, or those exhibiting characteristics that have been assigned male, hold ultimate authority and privilege central to social organization, occupying roles of political leadership, moral authority, and control of property. It implies and entails female subordination. Can result in gendered outcomes even without specific gendered animus articulated between individuals.
Poverty
Oxford – the state of being extremely poor, lacking financial resources.
Britannica – the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. Poverty is said to exist when people lack the means to satisfy their basic needs.
Statistics Canada – In 2022, according to Canada’s OJicial Poverty Line, the poverty rate was 9.9% and about 3.8 million people living in Canada were in poverty. High rates of poverty among marginalized groups reflect persistent inequality throughout the country. In particular, racialized persons were more likely to live below the poverty line in 2022 (13.0%) than non-racialized persons (8.7%).
Privilege
CCDI – Unearned access, benefits, and opportunities possessed by members of a social group with a high level of power (e.g., white privilege, socioeconomic privilege, cisgender privilege). Privilege occurs when structures and institutions have been historically designed for the benefit of or to be accessed by a particular group.145 146
RET – Unearned social power accorded by the formal and informal institutions of society to ALL members of a dominant group (e.g. white privilege, male privilege, etc.). Privilege is usually invisible to those who have it because we’re taught not to see it, but nevertheless it puts them at an advantage over those who do not have it.
UofT – The ways in which individuals and populations experience unearned advantage as a result of membership in a particular group or having a particular identity or experience.
519 – Unearned power, benefits, advantages, access and/or opportunities that provide unfair advantage for members of the dominant group(s) in society. People are not always aware of the privileges they have. Examples include: cissexual privilege, straight privilege, male privilege, white privilege.
Racialized persons/ racialized group
CCDI – An alternative term for visible minority used to identify non-white racial groups. This term is preferred over visible minority as a racialized group is not necessarily in the minority, the term does not place “whiteness” as the default, and it acknowledges race as a social construct with negative effects.590 591
UBC – Members of racialized groups are persons who do not identify as primarily white in race, ethnicity, origin, and/or colour, regardless of their birthplace or citizenship. The term “racialized” is used as a more current term than “visible minority” from the Employment Equity Act (1995).
RET – Racialization is the very complex and contradictory process through which groups come to be designated as being of a particular “race” and on that basis subjected to differential and/or unequal treatment. Put simply, “racialization [is] the process of manufacturing and utilizing the notion of race in any capacity.” While white people are also racialized, this process is often rendered invisible or normative to those designated as white. As a result, white people may not see themselves as part of a race but still maintain the authority to name and racialize “others.”
UofT – The process of designating individuals as being of a particular group or “race” and on that basis, subjecting them to differential and/or unequal treatment.
OAITH – Racialized (person or group) “can have racial meanings attributed to them in ways that negatively impact their social, political, and economic life. This includes but is not necessarily limited to people classified as “visible minorities” under the Canadian census and may include people impacted by antisemitism and Islamophobia” (Ontario Anti-Racism Directorate, 2018).
Systemic or institutional discrimination
UofT – consists of attitudes, patterns of behaviour, policies or practices that are part of the social or administrative structures of an organization or sector, and that create or perpetuate a position of relative disadvantage for groups covered under the Code.
References
UBC – https://equity.ubc.ca/resources/equity-inclusion-glossary-of-terms/#E
UfoT – https://deptmedicine.utoronto.ca/glossary-terms-equity-diversity-inclusion
RET – https://www.racialequitytools.org/glossary
CCDI – glossary of terms
Oxford – https://www.oed.com/
Britannica – https://www.britannica.com/
Additional: