Fredericton non-profit aims to help children caught in intimate partner violence situations
EDITOR'S NOTE: As part of our series looking at the issue of intimate partner violence in the province, we spoke with a New Brunswick advocate and survivor who shared her story.
We also spoke with Lyne Chantal Boudreau, the provincial minister responsible for women's equality, about how the province is addressing the issue.
Here is a look at what support workers in the province are noticing in terms of trends, and how they cope with the field.
Children are some of the invisible victims of intimate partner violence in Canada, and a Fredericton non-profit is aiming to help them feel safe while working through difficult feelings.
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Liberty Lane houses and supports intimate partner violence survivors. In the last few years, it has also implemented a program for the children of survivors.
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'When we're looking at the whole family, we're seeing the influence of domestic violence isn't just on the protective parent, on the mom, the children also are experiencing some negative effects as well,' said Meaghan Ross, the child and youth guidance co-ordinator at Liberty Lane.
Sometimes, abusers use children to continue their abuse by passing messages through them to the survivors. Other times, they threaten or attempt to withhold access to children, which causes harm for both the survivors and the young ones caught in the middle.
'It impacts their emotional safety, right, and they don't know who to trust. There's a sense of shame, there's a sense of self-responsibility,' Ross said.
Liberty Lane works to help children process their feelings and understand how to regulate their emotions. However, the work has its challenges, especially when it comes to family law and child protection systems.
'When you feel like you've done a lot with the client and maybe things didn't go the way that you want to and the children are put into care, that's probably one of the hardest situations,' Ross said.
For more on this story, watch the video above.
Anyone experiencing intimate partner violence can call 911 in the case of an emergency. Support is available in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick by dialling 211.
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