Strength in numbers
Empowering victim-survivors through group counselling
“If I had problems navigating the system, can you imagine someone whose English is minimal or non-existent? Or, is living in poverty and doesn’t have money for a laptop or phone to help source out services? Or lives with a disability that challenges them in accessing resources and services?”
“If I had problems navigating the system, can you imagine someone whose English is minimal or non-existent? Or, is living in poverty and doesn’t have money for a laptop or phone to help source out services? Or lives with a disability that challenges them in accessing resources and services?”
While leaving an abusive relationship almost 15 years ago, Sherrie Winstanley struggled to find the resources and support she needed. These experiences motivated her to start and direct a local non-profit organization called S.H.A.D.E (Safe Housing and Directed Empowerment) Inc. (SHADE) based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Through her work and personal life, Winstanley became more aware of the gaps in city-wide access to support, resources and safe housing for immigrant and refugee women facing intimate partner abuse. SHADE seeks to fill those gaps by providing much-needed resources, seeking out volunteers for multilingual legal support in addition to empowering and uplifting victim-survivors through a program called MIRRORS.
With the tagline “A Reflection of Immigrant Women Building Healthy Relationship,” MIRRORS is a ten-week support group that meets participants wherever they are on their healing journey.
The first MIRRORS session took place last winter and spring, and was facilitated by Winstanley and Jaymie Friesen, MCC Manitoba’s Abuse Response and Prevention (ARP) Program Coordinator.
MCC partnered with SHADE in this way because “we both share a commitment to sustain individuals impacted by family violence and supporting people in reclaiming life and finding healthy ways forward,” says Friesen.
Though facing interruptions due to COVID-19, the first session started as an in-person workshop and then adapted to meeting outdoors or socially distanced spaces following health guidelines.
What sets MIRRORS apart is the impact of support groups. MIRRORS emphasizes women working together to empower and uplift one another.
Support group opportunities like these have a significant impact, says Friesen. “You’re there because you’re in pain and need healing, but your presence is healing for someone else, and there’s something so empowering about that.”
“You’re there because you’re in pain and need healing, but your presence is healing for someone else, and there’s something so empowering about that.”
“There is a difference in doing it alone and understanding the lessons, compared to learning in a group,” says Arshdeep Bath, who provided translation services in the first session of MIRRORS and is joining the second session as a co-facilitator in place of Friesen.
Bath is a master’s student in counselling who first came to Canada as a teenager. Her journey as a newcomer helps shape her work with MIRRORS.
Drawing on her experience as a translator for her new role as a facilitator, Bath is teaching participants words they can use to describe their experience. Language to talk about one’s experience with abuse can be revolutionary to their healing process, says Bath. Whether they are learning or if they were born speaking English, how to share about one’s experience is a learned practiced.
“There’s a benefit to connecting in a common language,” she says.
As Bath recalled the experiences of one woman she assisted with translation, she saw positive changes that she didn’t expect.
“People think sexual abuse is the only type of abuse, but there’s also verbal, emotional, economic,” explains Bath, emphasizing that education about the different types of violence is an important part of the MIRRORS program.
When reflecting on the big ah-ha moments of learning that goes on during these types of sessions, Friesen shares “It’s an honour to witness that and a reminder not to take this work lightly because I sometimes forget the power of information.”
Filling the gap
Winstanley knows the statistics well; 89,000 domestic violence calls were made to the Winnipeg Police Service in Winnipeg last year.
“This translates to 42 calls a day,” she says, adding that this number is not conclusive when considering the unknown numbers of people who do not report situations of intimate partner abuse.
Resources for counselling aren’t the only need SHADE is trying to fill. The organization has plans to further expand through their safe housing initiative. The current resources in Winnipeg for second stage housing are inadequate for a city with a population of more than 800,000 people, says Winstanley.
Soon, Winstanley hopes, they will be able to provide more safe housing opportunities for women and their children in the city.
Despite significant roadblocks due to COVID-19, Winstanley continues to work hard to provide resources for newcomer women through the MIRRORS program.
To learn more about SHADE you can find them on Facebook at or on their website.
To learn more about MCC’s Abuse Response and Prevention program, visit https://abuseresponseandprevention.ca/.