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 Neutral, 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

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.

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.