Partner Or Spousal Abuse In Rural Areas
Special Considerations for Partner or Spousal Abuse in rural areas.
Rural Life
Living in a rural area can be wonderful. The streets in small towns are not crowded, the atmosphere is friendly, children can play freely in the yard, the air is clear, the nights are calm and peaceful, farmyards are spacious and neighbours are at a distance.
While it is true that a rural area can create a sense of peacefulness and contentment for some people, for rural women abused by their partners, it can be a lonely, frightening and unsafe place to live. These women face challenges and special concerns that abused urban women do not.
In rural areas, geographic isolation and distance, lack of services, confidentiality and police service response are of special concern.
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What is Partner Abuse?
Partner or Spousal Abuse is a learned pattern of abusive behaviours (verbal, emotional abuse, physical abuse and/or sexual abuse) used by one person to control the other person in an intimate relationship.
Learn More About Partner Abuse...
Statistics on the incidence of partner or spousal abuse in rural areas are difficult to obtain since much of the abuse goes unreported and is often hidden and tolerated within the community.
5 Special Concerns For Rural Women...
1. Abused women in rural areas often do not have the access to services that urban women do. Smaller communities may not have counselling, legal and medical services, so rural women must drive to a larger centre.2. Access to a vehicle may be difficult. Often the partner checks the odometer in order to know how many miles she has driven, takes the keys with him or leaves little fuel in the car and no money to fill the tank.
3. If services are available in her community, confidentiality may be an issue. Often in rural communities there is a sense of familiarity and fellowship. While it is nice to know names and faces of others in your community, it can lead to concern when other people notice you entering and accessing buildings which house legal or counselling services.
4. Another concern facing rural women is the length of police response time. It is not unusual for rural women to wait for an hour for a response to a call for help.
This is not due to the neglect of the RCMP, but because it takes longer to get from one point to another. Especially if there is only one officer on duty, the station is closed in the evening or the detachment is not in the town closest to their home.
5. Sometimes a woman has lived in the community for most of her life, her family and friends are in the area. For some women, leaving their community is the only option due to safety and need for anonymity. This means a rural woman who decides to leave her abusive partner may also be permanently leaving her supports and rural lifestyle she and her children enjoy.
Partner or Spousal Abuse - Special Options For Rural Women
Today, agencies recognize the need for specialized services for abused women living in rural isolated communities and have worked hard to offer unique and confidential services.* Most agencies now accept collect calls and/or have 1-800 or 1-888 numbers available so there is no evidence of phone calls being made from her number or charges applied to the telephone bill.
The Support Line for Southeast Saskatchewan, is toll-free and will not appear on your phone bill.
* In 1994, Saskatchewan introduced the Emergency Intervention Order (EIO) under the Victims of Domestic Violence Act.
The EIO can remove the abusive partner from the home and allow the abuser to access the barn, quonset, equipment, fields, etc. during hours that farm responsibilities normally take place. The farmhouse however, is inaccessible.
Envision can assist a woman with this option.
* Some agencies will come to a community for counselling services and arrange to meet the rural abused woman in a place she feels is the safest and most confidential, such as a community church or health center.
* With the help of agencies, some rural women may be eligible for reimbursement of travel costs.
* Peace bonds, restraining orders, exclusive occupancy of the home and other legal options are available to the rural woman who wants to leave the partner or spousal abuse and feels safe enough to stay in her home community. These options are available through the RCMP and/or a lawyer.
* Transition houses and shelters are available to rural women. Envision has volunteers who will meet a woman (who lives in the Estevan, Weyburn and surrounding communities) in a non-threatening place, such as the RCMP station, and transport her to a transition house or shelter.
Photo by Aunt Owwee.
From Spousal Abuse To Witnessing Abuse
Supporting Someone In Abuse
