TRANSKRIPT 🔗
WEBVTT
1
00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:09.519
Check podcasts. Welcome back to this is Van Keller. From
2
00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:12.800
November twenty fifth, the International Day for the Elimination of
3
00:00:12.919 --> 00:00:16.879
Violence against Women, to December tenth, Human Rights Day, the
4
00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:20.320
Global sixteen Days campaign calls for an action to end
5
00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:24.359
violence against women. Across Canada. At least one woman or
6
00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:27.719
girl is killed every two days, according to the Canadian
7
00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:32.560
Femicide Observatory. For Justice and Accountability, advocates are calling for
8
00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:36.399
gender based violence to be recognized as an epidemic. Our
9
00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:39.560
guest night is one of those advocates, a former BC
10
00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:44.039
Minister of State for Childcare, Katrina Chen And this conversation
11
00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:46.880
is brought to you by Pacific Sands Beach resortant to
12
00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:54.000
Fino laid back luxury as beachfront as it gets So, Katrina,
13
00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:58.000
you co signed a letter from the YWCA two BC
14
00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:02.520
Premier David eb basically asking him to declare gender based
15
00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:07.920
violence as an epidemic. Can you explain why this horrible
16
00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:09.799
thing should be considered an epidemic?
17
00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:13.079
Of course, when you think about it, gender based violence
18
00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:17.640
is the most pervasive, persistent, and most widespread human rights
19
00:01:17.719 --> 00:01:22.280
violation across Canada, across the world in human history. You
20
00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:25.040
can barely think of anything else that has been so
21
00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:29.040
persistent and so devastating that has touched so many people's lives.
22
00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:31.480
So we should call it for what it is. It
23
00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:35.319
is an epidemic. And statistically, if you look at in Canada,
24
00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:40.319
about a girl, a woman or more every two days
25
00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:44.200
right here in Canada are being killed because of violence.
26
00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:47.680
Right here in BC, about thirty percent of women have
27
00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:52.439
been touched by physical or sexual violence. About half of
28
00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:56.719
women have experienced some forms of violence, whether it's emotional
29
00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:00.840
or abuse or trauma. And then the statistic actually goes
30
00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:03.799
way higher for Indigenous women and women of color. So
31
00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:05.040
that's call it for what it is.
32
00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:10.479
Survivors of gender based violence, they have many challenges in
33
00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:14.240
terms of navigating both the culture and the legal injustice system.
34
00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:17.360
There may be people at home thinking who have not
35
00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:20.479
experienced this, thinking, well, if you're in the situation, just
36
00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:22.879
get out and go through the legal system. Can you
37
00:02:22.919 --> 00:02:25.039
explain why it's not as simple as that, and some
38
00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:27.439
of the barriers that exist for women.
39
00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:31.120
There's definitely many barriers. I'm sure we've all watched a
40
00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:35.520
movie where a survivor, a victim, a woman is being questioning,
41
00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:38.439
a questioned in courts because of what happened a violence
42
00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:42.000
against them, or being questioned about their character, what was
43
00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:43.360
she wearing, why was she.
44
00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:44.000
Out late at night?
45
00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:47.360
Victim bliming, and there's you know, some people may say, oh,
46
00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:49.840
there's two sides of the story. We don't know what happened.
47
00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:53.240
And we even had a former BC politician actually in
48
00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:57.840
a leadership position that has called domestic violence a tough marriages.
49
00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:00.520
I don't know if people remember that. So there is
50
00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:05.240
definitely a barrier and a stigma and challenges for survivors
51
00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:08.199
to come forward to share their story. And I always
52
00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:10.639
say that it's so important that when you have a wound,
53
00:03:10.719 --> 00:03:13.080
you need to open it up and to let it heal,
54
00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:15.840
to look at it, to face it before you can
55
00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:19.400
find a treatment to treat your trauma. But for gender
56
00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:22.120
based violence is still a topic that so many people
57
00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:25.560
find it really difficult to talk about. So the society
58
00:03:25.639 --> 00:03:27.879
needs change and that's what we need to call it
59
00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:30.000
an a pandemic and really to talk about what gender
60
00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:32.719
based violence is, and then we look at core system
61
00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:36.280
reform because survivors tend to be re traumatized through the process.
62
00:03:36.439 --> 00:03:38.639
Many survivors have shared that they have to share their
63
00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:41.960
stories over a dozen times through the core process or
64
00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:45.360
through applications, and that is just re traumatizing on victims.
65
00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:50.400
We're currently in the sixteen days of Action. Aside from
66
00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:54.479
the province declaring gender based violence and epidemic, what other
67
00:03:54.599 --> 00:03:57.080
kind of reforms are you and other advocates looking for.
68
00:03:57.800 -->
Load full transcript
00:04:00.199
There's definitely a lot has to be done. First of all,
69
00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:02.240
like I mentioned, we need to have a public conversation
70
00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:05.759
about it, whether it's through our K twelve education, post secondary,
71
00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:10.199
at our workplaces, at home with our children, to inform
72
00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:12.599
people about what gender based violence it is and how
73
00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:16.240
it touches so many people in our community around us.
74
00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:20.439
Many survivors, including myself, have faced that challenge of coming
75
00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:23.240
forward to share our story. I had a childhood trauma
76
00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:25.600
that I never talked about until in my late thirties
77
00:04:25.639 --> 00:04:27.920
when I was touched by violence again. So we need
78
00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:30.600
to really think about how can we create a safe
79
00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.319
space for people to share this and of course, at
80
00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:36.120
the same time, we need more prevention and support for
81
00:04:36.279 --> 00:04:39.480
victims and survivors who are experiencing violence or have been
82
00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:42.519
impacted by violence, and also their families. We need to
83
00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:45.639
look at court reform as well. The core process. Often
84
00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:48.560
we traumatize this victims and survivors. How can we make
85
00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:52.920
sure it's more trauma informed? For example, intimate partner violence
86
00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:56.240
is a very frequent common form of viol gender based
87
00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:59.680
violence and survivors often has to go through family court
88
00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:02.560
and court separately, and why can we not have an
89
00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:06.399
integrated court like many other jurisdictions have to ensure that
90
00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:10.560
it's survivor centered trauma inform process for survivors to go through.
91
00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:12.720
So this is being done in other jurisdictions. It's not
92
00:05:12.759 --> 00:05:15.519
that we're completely starting from new No.
93
00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:18.120
There's many other good examples across the world about how
94
00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:21.199
can we better support survivors and also ensure that there's
95
00:05:21.319 --> 00:05:24.839
proper conversation in training and trauma inform practices for survivors.
96
00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:27.480
Let's say there's someone watching the show right now who
97
00:05:27.560 --> 00:05:30.879
is impacted by this, either directly or they know someone.
98
00:05:31.720 --> 00:05:33.439
What are the first things that they should be doing
99
00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:36.199
here in BC? What are the resources or supports or
100
00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:38.920
what would you recommend them do to get out of
101
00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:39.600
that situation.
102
00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:43.680
There's definitely many organizations that can provide supports, such as
103
00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:46.399
YWCA that we talked about is leading this campaign to
104
00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:50.759
call it an epidemic. There is BWSS, Better Women Support
105
00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:53.639
Services and many other organizations that provide such support. But
106
00:05:53.720 --> 00:05:56.319
if you know someone or you are at risks of
107
00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:59.839
violence or experiencing violence, make sure you get help right away.
108
00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:03.360
Call nine one one or to contact on local organizations.
109
00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:06.000
And I do understand it. It's very hard sometimes to
110
00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:09.560
take that first step to get help. Depending Jendabe's silence
111
00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:12.600
can be very complex. Maybe talk to a trusted friend,
112
00:06:12.879 --> 00:06:16.079
share the story. Like I mentioned, unpack your wound, open
113
00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:18.600
it up, talk about it, and then take the steps
114
00:06:18.600 --> 00:06:20.399
to get those resources and the help that you need.
115
00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:23.279
We do need to make sure there's enough actions and
116
00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:28.800
support for survivors to end this tremendous and very widespread
117
00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:29.759
human rights violation.
118
00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:33.480
Katrina, I know that this is not an easy subject
119
00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:35.759
to talk about, but it is a very important subject.
120
00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:38.240
So I appreciate your time tonight. Thank you so much,
121
00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:40.439
and thank you for all that you're doing on behalf
122
00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:41.680
of victims and survivors.
123
00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:44.079
Thank you so much for having me folks.
124
00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:47.680
The former BC Minister of State for Childcare, Katrina Chen.
125
00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:50.680
Thank you so much to Pacific Sands Beach Resort and
126
00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:54.839
to FINO for supporting local conversations about very serious and
127
00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:58.879
very important issues that affect all of our communities. Now,
128
00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:01.839
after some business, we're going to end on a lighter note.
129
00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:05.720
Taking a suggestion from one of our viewers, Kyla's Court
130
00:07:05.959 --> 00:07:07.839
is up next