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SOCIAL WORK IN CANADA
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An Introduction
Third Edition
Chapter 10: Social Work with Women
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Social Work With Women
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Social Work Beginnings
Equal Pay and Employment Equity
Persistent Problems
Sexism and Gender Equality
Principles of Feminist Practice
Violence Against Women
Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment
What Is the Role of a Social Worker?
Other Areas of Social Work Intervention
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Social Work Beginnings
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
Movement for greater participation of women in
public life arose at the end of the 19th century.
Women were typically maternal feminists
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Social Work Beginnings
There were a number of strands:
1. Temperance movement
2. Women’s missionary and charities
3. Suffragette movement
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Equal Pay and Employment Equity
Many legislative changes in the post-war period
fostered greater equality for women:
1. Equal pay policies
2. Equal employment policies
3. Other facilitating policies
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Persistent Problems
There are persistent problems for women in
many areas of economic life:
 Poverty
 Part-time work
 Minimum wage legislation
 Maternity and parental leave
 Dependent care
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
 Free trade and globalization
 Pension programs
 Recessions
 Employment insurance
programs
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Persistent Problems
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
----------------------------------------------------
Persistent Problems
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
----------------------------------------------------
Sexism and Gender Equality
Gender
How we identify as male, female, or transgendered and
adhere to cultural norms of femininity and masculinity;
in contrast to sex, which is biological.
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Sexism and Gender Equality
Gender Equality
Means that women and men live in an environment that
affords them equal opportunity to realize full human
rights; to contribute to national, political, economic,
social, and cultural development; and to benefit from the
results.
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
----------------------------------------------------
Sexism and Gender Equality
Sexism
Prejudice or discrimination based on a person’s sex. It
is a system of discriminatory, interrelated physical and
social controls, derogatory beliefs and institutional- and
societal-level policies.
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Sexism and Gender Equality
Patriarchy
Literally means “rule by the father” but, in a broader
sense, it has come to mean the domination of society
by men.
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Principles of Feminist Practice
There are thirteen components of feminist social
work practice:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Validating the social context
Re-valuing positions enacted by women
Recognizing difference in male & female experiences
Re-balancing perceptions of normality and deviance
Taking an inclusive stance
Paying attention to power dynamics
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Principles of Feminist Practice
Components of feminist social work practice cont’d:
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Recognizing how “the personal is political”
Taking a deconstructive stance
Taking a partnering stance
Fostering inclusive scholarship
Challenging reductionist models
Adopting empowerment practice
Countering the myth of value-free psychotherapy
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Violence Against Women
 Many social workers take exception to the phrase
“family violence” or “domestic violence”
 They believe it glosses over the fact that it is
usually men who are violent against women
 According to Statistics Canada 2004, 7% of
women experienced spousal violence in the
previous 5 years
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
----------------------------------------------------
Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment
Sexual Assault
Any form of unwanted sexual activity including fondling,
touching, and penetration, that is forced upon another
person without that person’s consent.
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
----------------------------------------------------
Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment
Sexual Harassment
Any unwanted behaviour, comment, gesture, or contact
of a sexual nature that treats the person receiving it as
a sexual object.
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
----------------------------------------------------
Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment
Acquaintance Sexual Assault
Also called date rape, acquaintance sexual assault
involves an assailant who is known to the victim. Forty
percent of sexual assaults are this type.
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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What is the Role of a Social Worker?
The role of social workers in helping abused
women may include crisis intervention, support
and empowerment, support group facilitation,
and the provision of information.
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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What is the Role of a Social Worker?
The social worker may partake in one or several of
the following activities:
 Intervene in a crisis
 Facilitate an empowerment approach
 Listen to what the women has to say and
empathetically respond
 Connect the woman to a support group
 Teach the woman how to assess the
assault/homicide potential
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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What is the Role of a Social Worker?
 Make an appropriate referral
 Teach the woman how to recognize abuse, name the
problem and its source, and avoid self-blame
 Advise the abused women of her legal rights
 Mobilize safety, legal, and community resources
effectively
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
----------------------------------------------------
What is the Role of a Social Worker?
 Implement agency policy regarding mandated
reporting and keep accurate records
 Use the consultative process and review one’s referrals
and interventions
 Complete the crisis management and follow-up referral
or treatment steps
 Provide full follow-up and counselling with the woman
and her assailant
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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What is the Role of a Social Worker?
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
----------------------------------------------------
Other Areas of Social Work Intervention
Women and poverty
 Mounting numbers of women with low incomes and
lone-parent mothers are receiving social services
across Canada. Phrase coined to capture the problem –
the feminization of poverty
Women and HIV/AIDS
 Number and percentage of women living with
HIV/AIDS in increasing
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Websites
 Status of Women of Canada
www.swc-cfc.gc.ca
 National Clearinghouse on Family Violence
www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ncfv-cnivf/familyviolence
 Canada Health Coalition
www.healthcoalition.ca
 International Museum of Women
www.imow.org
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Questions for Discussion
What social work programs today have their
roots in campaigns of the early women’s
movements?
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Questions for Discussion
What are some of the reasons behind why such
a large proportion of part-time workers in
Canada are women?
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Questions for Discussion
In what ways does sexism create barriers for
women’s economic opportunity?
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Questions for Discussion
How can social workers be involved in
addressing discrimination against women from
a practice perspective? From a policy
perspective?
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.
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Questions for Discussion
In what ways does violence against women
influence child poverty?
Chapter 10:
Social Work with Women
Social Work In Canada
Copyright © 2010 Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc.