Our Bodies, Our Wen-Do

The number of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada is high, so a group of Indigenous women formed an organization called Power Our Women (POW) to teach other Indigenous women across the country self-defense skills. Participants talk about their cultures, learn physical self-defense, build confidence, and learn situational awareness. Participants describe the program as healing but difficult. POW has now reached more than 5,000 women across Canada, including remote areas in northern Manitoba.

Group sessions, workplace videos, badges, these are just some of the ways various people around the world are addressing sexual, and physical assault. In light of the #MeToo movement in the U.S., the Christian Science Monitor chronicled four international efforts that attempt to curb toxic masculinity.

Girls in India are sometimes forced into the prospects of child marriage, prostitution, or slave labor; alternatively, families often teach girls to be wives and mothers. To empower girls to make their own choices, Yuwa, an NGO based in India, introduces girls to sports for social development. Yuwa also promotes educational workshops for girls, where girls can discuss women’s rights and their thoughts about their own bodies.

In India “more than 75 000 cases of cruelty by husbands or relatives against women were registered in 2009.” There are no general, medical guidelines for doctors to follow when examining victims of sexual assault. An NGO, and a crisis center for violence against women in India, are filling in the gaps. They have trained doctors, nurses, provided rape kits, and offered a model for setting up crisis centers.

Healing Justice brings exonerees, crime victims and family members from a variety of cases together to share stories, play games, connect and heal together while facing the traumas of wrongful convictions. Since 2015, Healing Justice has hosted 17 retreats, where exonerees and crime victims gather for three days to work through their traumas together.

The CampusPal mobile app is a safe, confidential place for students at colleges in Nigeria to report cases of sexual assault and gender-based violence.

Among the many restorative justice programs in the U.S., the Domestic Violence Safe Dialogue program was one of the few to arrange face-to-face dialogue between survivors and men who had violently abused women. This form of surrogate dialogue – the pairings are between strangers – helps two people who want to change but can't do it alone. After extensive preparation and led by a facilitator, the meeting gives survivors a way to hear they were not to blame for the harm done to them, and for the men to admit responsibility and help someone else in ways that traditional punitive justice often cannot.

Domestic Violence Intervention Services supports domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. Services include counseling, legal advocacy, and group meetings among others. A texting service allows people to subtly connect to advocates, which was crucial during COVID-19 lockdowns and certified interpreters are available. Services are tailored to special populations, like immigrants and refugees, LGBTQ survivors, individuals who are incarcerated, and rural populations. An intensive year-long intervention program works with convicted offenders to develop coping mechanisms and tools to change behaviors.

The story of the passage of the Violence Against Women Act starts with a young legal aide to Sen. Joe Biden who did not identify as a feminist and knew little about the issues, but whose methodical building of a coalition and a set of arguments led to the historic passage of the law in 1994. VAWA was the first U.S. federal law to address comprehensively the ancient problem of gender-based violence. A key provision, authorizing federal civil lawsuits by victims, helped many women for six years until the Supreme Court struck it down. The law's other effects, still ongoing, include funding victim-aid groups.

In New Hampshire, a healing and bonding program is offering veterans and first responders experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder ways to cope with their stressors. From social interactions to equine therapy, participants have reported that the program has had a positive impact on their wellbeing.