For Helping Professionals

Women stand side by side looking into the sunset over the water.

Why are women pressured to forgive their abuser?

Women, especially Christian women, are often pressured to forgive their partners. I never understand the urgency around this. Sometimes I think church leaders want this to happen because they then think that everything will be “okay” and they can move on to other concerns but nothing is okay for the woman. It seems obvious that…

Women stand side by side looking into the sunset over the water.

Does the Bible really say that the man is the “head” of the house?

In my second year of university, I went to a huge Christian youth conference in the states. I had a room mate who was from a fundamentalist Christian family. One night we got talking about relationships and she told me, “of course, the man is the head of the household.” I was shocked that such…

Women stand side by side looking into the sunset over the water.

One half of all Canadian women have experienced physical or sexual violence

Violence is far too common in the lives of Canadian women. One half of all Canadian women over the age of 18 have experienced physical or sexual violence. That is a shocking statistic. It comes from a Statistics Canada survey that was conducted in 1993. It was a one-time-only survey. If you or someone you…

Women stand side by side looking into the sunset over the water.

How women resist abuse

Many people believe victims of domestic abuse do not do enough to free themselves from the abuse. They wrongly believe that women impacted by abuse passively accept the violence or lack assertiveness or are somehow “damaged” in such a way that they “accept” the abuse as “normal”. Nothing could be further from the truth. When…

Women stand side by side looking into the sunset over the water.

Can abusive men change?

Yes they can, but statistically, they do not very often. This is because abusive men face very few consequences for their behaviour. By staying abusive, they continue to have power and control. They get their way all the time. Usually these men leave a wake of destruction behind them as they go from one relationship…