LAWC’s ‘Shine the Light’ Campaign Goes International

AM980 News

2/21/2012

The spotlight is on the London Abused Women’s Centre for its Shine the Light on Woman Abuse campaign.

The campaign has been recognized as one of the best communication’s campaigns in the world.

At the 2nd World Conference of Women’s Shelters, the Avon Foundation for Women is recognizing LAWC’s campaign among one of the five best globally in one of its categories recognizing best practices from around the world on preventing violence against women.

“We are beyond thrilled at even just being a finalist for this prestigious award,” said London Abused Women’s Centre executive director Megan Walker. “We are thrilled because of all the hard work the agency has put into this campaign but more than that, we are thrilled for London. It is the community that has embraced the Shine the Light on Woman Abuse campaign. The city of London, sponsors, businesses and individuals have all turned the city purple and it is making an impact on woman abuse awareness.”

Avon will present four awards to organizations that have produced exemplary communications materials or campaigns in the categories of Storytelling, Innovation, Breaking the Silence, and Global Excellence.

The Shine the Light campaign is only in its second year, co-coordinators are hopeful it will grow provincially and nationally in Canada.

The campaign is one of five finalists in the Avon Communications Award: Speaking out about Violence in Against Women in the category of Breaking the Silence. The Breaking the Silence Award recognizes communication materials that encourages witnesses or community members to step in and speak out against violence against women.

With the community answering the call to participate, The Shine the Light campaign staged its second annual campaign last November resulting in a 125% increase in service demands, a clear indicator the message is reaching those it needed to reach.

“The success of the campaign is all about the community’s involvement in joining LAWC in turning the city purple,” Walker said.  “It raised awareness about the issue of woman abuse sending a message to abused women that the shame and blame they may feel does not belong to them but belongs to those who abuse them. It sends a message to abused women that there are community services available to assist them in living their lives free from violence and abuse.”

The winner will be presented with the award by Reese Witherspoon at the 2nd World Conference of Women’s Shelters conference in Washington on February 28.

http://www.am980.ca/channels/news/local/Story.aspx?ID=1657723 ]]> http://lawc.on.ca/lawcs-shine-the-light-campaign-goes-international-am980/feed/ 0 http://lawc.on.ca/hitchcockian-ballet-london-free-press/ http://lawc.on.ca/hitchcockian-ballet-london-free-press/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:45:00 +0000 admin http://lawc.on.ca/?p=2386 Hitchcockian ballet

VIOLENCE: NEW DANCE PIECE COMING TO LONDON CROSSES ALL SORTS OF BOUNDARIES

By JOE BELANGER, THE LONDON FREE PRESS

A “powerful,” “provocative” and critically acclaimed new ballet about domestic violence is coming to London.

Ghosts of Violence, presented by the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada, will make its debut here Wednesday at Paul Davenport Theatre at the University of Western Ontario.

First performed a year ago at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa — provoking “tears” of sadness and joy in the audience, according to reviews — Ghosts of Violence has changed and saved lives, says one of London’s leading advocates to end violence against women.

“It is an incredibly powerful ballet and it takes the audience on a journey, through all the emotions — from sadness and anger to grief, then joy and hope,” said Megan Walker, executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre.

Walker saw the ballet in Ottawa.

“I can tell you there was hardly a dry eye in the house. There were people who were inspired to take action. It’s about honouring the lives of women who were killed by the men who were supposed to love them. You become so emotional watching it, not just because of the ballet, but (also) the music. It’s just wonderful.”

The company’s artistic director and choreographer, Igor Dobrovolskiy, a native of Ukraine who has lived in Canada for more than a decade, said it was a collaborative effort by a number of people to create the show, which was initially developed as an eight-minute ballet for a fundraiser for the New Brunswick Silent Witness Project, a Canadian chapter of the North American-wide campaign “to raise awareness of domestic homicide and its victims.”

He was approached to expand it into a full ballet.

“It was interesting as a challenge, but also dangerous because of the subject,” Dobrovolskiy said. “It’s a sensitive topic. You can either shed some light on a dark subject, or you might just shock people. But I’m a son, a brother, a husband and a father and I felt there was much more to say about these women, their lives and this devastating social problem that crosses all boundaries.”

Working with award-winning Canadian playwright and dramaturge Sharon Pollock, and many other talented people, Dobrovolskiy said he didn’t want to tell just one story, so he created a ballet around four couples.

“I decided that to only follow one narrative would limit the scope of the work,” he said. “This problem is multi-layered and I wanted to reveal that in the ballet.”

To that effect, the four scenarios have characters from a variety of age groups and socio-economic backgrounds. However, Dobrovolskiy said his first consideration was to ensure the artistic integrity of the work because “when the art works, the message is clear.

Dobrovolskiy said he didn’t want to use “traditional” ballet music and opted to use the music of Russian composer Alfred Schnittke, along with that of two other Russians, Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff.

“Schnittke’s music sounds classical, but it’s like it is broken and it sounds violent,” said Dobrovolskiy. “You can hear the horror growing, not unlike the music in Alfred Hitchcock’s movies. It provokes images and situations. Every story is different, but the ending is always the same.”

New York projection designer and filmmaker Adam Larsen was also tapped to add a cinematic dimension to the piece, using five screens with images shot by Larsen that mirror the aggression on stage. Dobrovolskiy said he’s been overwhelmed by the reaction of audiences, even overcome with emotion watching the show he created.

“It’s provocative,” Dobrovolskiy said. “I never expected to create something with this result. We just try to make the audience feel what the victim feels and to realize what happens to them. And if we can save just one life with this show, it is worth it. But we can do better. I don’t believe you can have a perfect world, but you can minimize the darkness in it.”

The ending of the show is neither tragic or sad, Dobrovolskiy said.

“After all the darkness and tears you will see hope.”

E-mail joe.belanger@sunmedia.ca, or follow JoeBatLFPress on Twitter.

— — —

IF YOU GO

What: Ghosts of Violence, a new ballet from the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada presented by artistic director and choreographer Igor Dobrovolskiy.

Where: Paul Davenport Theatre, Western University.

When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.

Tickets: $45 adults, $38 seniors, $25 students available online at www.grandtheatre.com,by phone at 519-672-8800 or 800-265-1593, or in person at the Grand Theatre box office, 471 Richmond St.

http://www.lfpress.com/entertainment/stage/2012/02/21/19405086.html#.T0PgL5ooUiw.facebook

By ADAM WIGHTMAN, SPECIAL TO THE FREE PRESS

The London Abused Women’s Centre (LAWC) is one of five finalists for the Breaking the Silence award, given to an organization that puts out a message encouraging community members to speak out against violence toward women.

It’s one of the four award categories of the Avon Communications International Awards, Speaking Out About Violence Against Women, which will be presented by celebrity Reese Witherspoon at the second World Conference of Women’s Shelters, in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28.

LAWC was nominated for its Shine the Light on Woman Abuse Campaign, which had its second iteration last November. It was a drive to get Londoners to wear or decorate their property with purple for the month, to raise awareness of violence against women.

Megan Walker, executive director of LAWC, said she’s thrilled and said it shows how successful the campaign was.

“(A lot of businesses) and individual homes were decorated with purple lights—it was just a phenomenal show of support for abused women.”

It’s a prestigious award, Walker said, with the government of Australia being another finalist. So regardless of whether LAWC wins, Londoners have already accomplished a great deal, she said.

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2012/02/20/19403011.html

By: Backstage Pass , Mila Petkovic 

A new multimedia ballet about domestic violence is coming to London for a one-night-only performance.

The Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada will present Ghosts of Violence on Feb. 22 at the Paul Davenport Theatre at Western University.

Artistic director and choreographer Igor Dobrovolskiy created the piece for a fundraiser to build awareness about domestic violence and honour women killed by abuse. The full-length work debuted at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on Feb. 15, 2011.

Megan Walker, executive director of London Abused Women’s Centre, saw the ballet in Ottawa. She thinks it’s a good way to reach out to men and women who may not even be aware of the problem.

“The stories of the women in the ballet are stories I’ve heard over and over again in my office,” says Walker. “They reflect the tactics of power and control that abusers use with women every day.”

Every six days a woman is killed in Canada by domestic violence, according to Statistics Canada.

Jennifer Morse, who lost her mother to a murder-suicide by her stepfather in 1999, attended the ballet with Walker. Morse identified with the characters because she grew up in a violent home.

She thinks using a ballet to explore domestic violence is very innovative, and could potentially reach a different demographic of people who are interested in the arts.

“Nothing like this has ever been done before. Sure we have seen rallies, commercials — but now with this ballet we can visually see what it is like to be in these women’s shoes. This is as close as it can get, to see someone act it out on a stage.”

Walker says more discussion about domestic violence is the first step towards improving the problem.

“The more we talk about the issue, the more women feel supported in coming forward to get help. There has been a dramatic increase in our service demand, not because of increasing violence but because women are able to reach out for help,” says Walker.

The target audience of the ballet is the youth community.

“Everywhere we travel, we do performances at high schools and universities,” says Dobrovolskiy. “The younger we open discussion about this, the better.”
The ballet’s multimedia aspect further adds to its uniqueness.

“It combines dance, music, video images projected onto a huge screen and props on the stage,” says Walker. “It makes you feel like you are there in the homes of the women. You don’t even have to be a ballet lover to enjoy it.”

The performance starts at 8 p.m. Purchase tickets, $45 for adults and $25 for students, online at grandtheatre.com.

http://www.metronews.ca/london/comment/article/1099912–ballet-for-beaten-women

The London Abused Women’s Centre has been chosen as a nominee for the Avon Communications Awards: Speaking Out About Violence Against Women in the category of Breaking the Silence for it’s Shine the Light on Woman Abuse Campaign. The Break the Silence Award recognizes communications materials that encourage witnesses or community members to step in and speak out against violence against women. The nominees will be highlighted at the 2^nd World Conference of Women’s Shelters on Tuesday, February 28^th at 1pm at a luncheon ceremony where the winners will be announced. Awards will be presented by Avon Global Ambassador, Reese Witherspoon and Andrea Jung, Chairman and CEO of Avon Products Inc.

We are so appreciative of the overwhelming support shown to the Shine the Light campaign by the City of London. Thank you so very much.

Healthy dating? There’s an app for that!

The YWCA Safety Siren, available in both English and French, offers users a unique utility siren which can be activated by either pressing the safety button or by shaking an iPod or iTouch. The app also offers Canadian health and safety information geared toward young women, including: short questions and answers about women’s health and wellness, particularly focused on dating and social interaction; tips and facts on safety and wellbeing; links to YWCAs across Canada as well as health and crisis resource centres; and SOS urgent email and phone functionality to a friend or family member when the user is in an unsafe situation.

Highlights include:

• Functionality in both French and English
• Multiple siren settings
• Siren activation sends an emergency email to a pre-set SOS contact with approximate coordinates and places an emergency outgoing call to a pre-programmed number
• A wide range of facts and information on women’s health and wellness
• Connections to nearby YWCAs, emergency hotlines, health centres and clinics
• Access to a library of women’s health resources

To download the YWCA Safety Siren visit the App Store in iTunes.

http://ywcacanada.ca/en/pages/mall/apps

London has some amazing talent.

http://hitrecord.org/users/tobysax

FOR TICKET INFORMATION CLICK HERE!

FOR TICKET INFORMATION CLICK HERE!

Click here to check out the Canadian Daily!

TORONTO, Jan. 16, 2012 /CNW/ – As part of its ongoing work to encourage Canadians to take action on violence against women and girls, YWCA Canada, the country’s oldest and largest women’s multi-service organization, released the much awaited YWCA Safety Siren app for BlackBerry® smartphones.  As part of its suite of anti-violence tools and programming for young women, the Safety Siren is a unique violence prevention and intervention tool, turning your BlackBerry smartphone into a multi-functional safety device.

Created as part of YWCA’s award-winning, signature anti-violence initiative, Power of Being a Girl™, the Safety Siren is available as a free download on BlackBerry® App World^TM. By pressing the Siren when you are in an unsafe situation, the app sends an emergency SOS email and BBM^TM (BlackBerry® Messenger )message while auto dialling a pre-selected friend , displaying your location on a map and geo-connecting you to over 300 resource and crisis centres across Canada. The app also provides amazing information about sexual health, dating and hooking up, tips and facts on safety and essential crisis information. It’s where to go when you want to know!

“We are thrilled to be able expand our growing suite of digital tools for young women’s safety,” says Paulette Senior, YWCA Canada Chief Executive Officer. “Access to information about sexual health, wellness and safety is absolutely essential and girls need it where they live, and they live on their phones.”

Funded by the Government of Canada’s Social Development Partnerships Program, the Safety Siren is part of a robust set of free tools for young women’s safety that include other apps, zines and a host of online resources as well as programs at YWCA Member Associations across the country.

“What I love best about the Safety Siren for BlackBerry smartphones is that it focuses on making preventative choices about safety before heading out, “says Corinne Rusch-Drutz, YWCA Canada Director of Communications & Membership Development.  “It’s really exciting to harness the safety potential of the BBM functionality, allowing young women who have downloaded the app to instantly connect with their networks. It also gives them access to sexual health information where, when and how they need it, which is an important part of being able to look out for yourself. The YWCA Safety Siren lives on your BlackBerry and goes where you go, answering some of the tough questions you might not be willing to ask your friends or family or look up on a shared computer.  It’s your own private gateway to a library of women’s resources, from sexual harassment to STIs.”

In addition to giving straightforward information on relevant sexual health and wellness issues, the app geo-locates users with maps and directions to over 300 resource centres across Canada by topic or proximity including local YWCAs, emergency hotlines, health clinics and crisis centres.  It’s a one stop shop for healthy dating and it’s free.

For more information about the Safety Siren or YWCA Canada please visit www.ywcacanada.ca, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ywcacanada, Twitter @YWCA_Canada, or download the app for free athttp://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/76867?lang=en .

About YWCA Canada:

YWCA Canada is the country’s oldest and largest women’s multi-service organization. With 34 Member Associations operating in more than 400 districts and communities across the country, our Turning Point Programs for Women™ – which address personal safety, economic security and well-being – reach out to 1 million women, girls and their families. YWCA is the largest national provider of shelter to women, serving 25,000 women, children and teen girls including 6,000 fleeing domestic violence each year.  We are the largest provider of literacy, life skills, employment and counselling programs in the country, and the second largest provider of childcare services. YWCA Canada is a member association of the World YWCA which unites 25 million women and girls worldwide and spans 125 countries. For more information about YWCA Canada, visit www.ywcacanada.ca or find us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/ywcacanada and Twitter  @YWCA_Canada.

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/906087/got-a-new-blackberry-for-the-holidays-bbm-for-safety

Everyone knows the story by now.  Mohammad Shafia along with his wife Tooba and son Hamed were convicted of first degree murder in the deaths of their three daughters and Mohammad Shafia’s first wife Rona after they were found drowned.

In sentencing, Justice Robert Maranger said, “the apparent reason behind these cold-blooded, shameful murders was that the four completely innocent victims offended your twisted notion of honour – a notion of honour that is founded upon the domination and control of women, a sick notion of honour that has absolutely no place in any civilized society.”

Calling this an ‘honour killing’ minimizes the bigger issue Justice Maranger attempts to address – “the domination and control of women.” However, the issue of domination and control of women is so prevalent in civilized society that in Canada one in four women is abused by her partner and every six days a woman is killed in  by her intimate partner.

All women are potential victims of abuse, violence and murder for no other reason than their gender. It doesn’t matter if they are rich or poor. It doesn’t matter whether they are Muslim, Christian or any other religion. It doesn’t matter where they came from or where they live now. It doesn’t matter what their educational background or whether they have any education at all.

One, and only one factor is the cause of all this. They are born female.

Do not confuse the issues. Three daughters and a first wife are dead because they were women.  This is woman killing.  This is femicide.

Hard-working, everyday Londoners are an integral part of our community and CAW Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) workers locked out by parent company Caterpillar are no exception.

The fight to save jobs at EMD is one every person, business, family and organization across our community and Canada needs to join. There are far reaching implications as a result of Caterpillar’s action.
If a corporation like Caterpillar, with record-breaking 2011 sales and revenues of more than $60 billion, can lock out its employees then who’s next?

Organized labour makes a significant contribution to our communities. Unions advocate for social justice and equality; raise millions of dollars annually for the United Way, food bank, and social service agencies like Women’s Community House, and the London Abused Women’s Centre. These hard-working men and women enrich our communities by spending their money to support local businesses who in turn hire others who invest in our communities. Loss of these jobs would impact our community financially. This would be a huge loss not just to the men and women employed at EMD, their families and their children, but a loss which impacts all of us.

While not the cause of woman abuse, there is an impact of unemployment and economic instability on violence against women. In 2009, when the economy started to turn downward, service demands at LAWC doubled. Today, LAWC provides appointments to 300 individual women per month, and more women seeking service are identified as being at higher risk for lethality and report tactics of abuse far more extreme than reported in the past.

For the health of women and children, for families and for our communities, we need to send a message to Caterpillar:
We support the locked-out workers at EMD.
Some businesses have already sent this message. TSC Stores in London have removed all Caterpillar merchandise from their stores. Source for Sports on Wharncliffe Road has a large sign out front showing support for the workers. Others are following. More than 15,000 people rallied this week in support of the locked-out workers at EMD. Individuals and politicians are joining the locked out workers on the picket line, bringing food and coffee. You can walk the line too. It is making a difference.
This lock-out needs to be resolved. Premier McGuinty and Prime Minister Harper need to join Mayor Fontana to force a resolution that is in the workers’ best interests.
This is a community, Provincial and Federal issue. This is a Canadian issue. This is our issue.

The London Abused Women’s Centre accepts ALL people.

The London Abused Women’s Centre asks you to do the same.

The London Abused Women’s Centre will not tolerate hatred, intolerance or judgement.

Stand with LAWC and support human rights.

http://kck.st/zUspXy

One doesn’t associate domestic violence with ballet, yet a touring company will bring awareness about the subject during a February appearance in London.

The Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada (ABTC) makes its London debut on February 22 at the Paul Davenport Theatre, University of Western Ontario and it will be tackling a very delicate subject.

The ABTC performs Ghosts of Violence, a hauntingly beautiful contemporary ballet that deals with an issue that is rarely in the spotlight – domestic violence.

The full-length production grew out a short work artistic director and choreographer Igor Dobrovolskiy created in 2007 for a fundraiser for the New Brunswick Silent Witness Project, a Canadian chapter of a North American-wide campaign to raise awareness of ­domestic homicide and its victims. The original piece drew such strong response from the audience that Dobrovolskiy began receiving requests to choreograph a full-length work.

“I knew it was a huge challenge – to explore this issue within the framework of a ballet. But I felt there was much more to say about these women, their lives,

and this devastating social problem that crosses all ­boundaries,” he said.

Ghosts Of Violence made its world premiere on ­February 15, 2011 in Ottawa, at the National Arts Centre. As with the original short work, the response from the audience — which included survivors, victim’s families, and anti-violence organizations — was astounding.

In attendance was Megan Walker, Executive Director of London Abused Women’s Centre and an early ­supporter of the project. “When I heard there was going to be a ballet dedicated to women whose lives were taken by the men they trusted to love them, I was full of hope because it’s an opportunity to reach out to men and women across this country who may never know this problem even exists,” she said.

Ghosts of Violence has touched so many people that various social agencies, women’s groups, family ­violence prevention and justice organizations, as well as the RCMP, the Canadian Nurses Association and the ­Canadian Social Workers Association plan to have a ­visible presence at each performance.

The London Silent Witnesses will also be in attendance. The group was present at the Ghosts of Violence presentation at Rideau Hall, as part of former Governor General Michaëlle Jean’s Women’s Conference in ­September 2010. London Silent Witnesses were also included in a national Silent Witness collection ­exhibited at the world premiere of Ghosts of Violence at the National Arts Centre.

Ghosts of Violence will tour Canada for the next three years. The London performance is co-sponsored by the London Abused Women’s Centre and the London Coordinating Committee to End Woman Abuse.

Want to know more?

Ghosts Of Violence plays for one-night-only,

February 22, at the Paul Davenport Theatre, ­University of Western Ontario. Curtain is 8 p.m. ­Tickets are: Adult $45. Senior $38. Student $25. ­Purchase: online – grandtheatre.com; by phone (519) 672-8800, 800-265-1593. In person – Grand Theatre Box Office, 471 Richmond St., London.

http://www.thelondoner.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3423325

SPECIAL REPORT: A grateful woman reconnects with the London police officer who saved her from her violent husband decades ago

By MORRIS DALLA COSTA, THE LONDON FREE PRESS

Like a weathervane in a gusty wind, this story will spin you in every direction.

It’s a story that traverses agonizing moments of despair and hopelessness until somehow through luck, determination, courage and perhaps even divine intervention, the story manages to make its way to the other side.

It’s a story where light emerges from darkness, a story told in a few minutes but lasting lifetimes.

In the end, it’s about how doing the right thing can change not only the immediate moment but thousands of moments in thousands of lives.

It’s about a police officer and a woman and how lives intersect in ways never imagined – a story of hope.

It is a story of hope.

* * *

For Judy Miller, Sept. 3, 1983, was supposed to be like every other day.

She was used to walking on eggshells around her husband, never knowing when a nice day would end with a beating.

This day was a little different. The 29-year-old, her husband and three children, one of them still breastfeeding, were at Miller’s parents’ apartment on Fiddler’s Green in London. Miller and her family lived in a secluded farmhouse outside London but her parents had gone to their cottage and the family wanted to do something different in London.

That saved Miller’s life.

Miller had been involved with John for six years. For more than four of those years, the marriage was a nightmare of psychological and physical abuse.

There were the regular rants when he would sit Miller in a chair and threaten not to kill her but kill her parents and children. There was the move to the farmhouse, isolating her.

When he would leave he would take the telephone with him and remove a part of her car so she couldn’t go anywhere.

When she went out, he forced her to leave at least one of her kids at home.

It wasn’t as if Miller didn’t try to leave. She tried several times. But she always worried he would hurt her parents or her children. She worried he would win any legal battle for custody of the children because his family had all the financial resources.

No, Miller wasn’t afraid to die. In truth, she had returned to John after leaving him yet again for one last time.

That was almost a year previous to the September day in Miller’s parents’ apartment on Fiddler’s Green.

That time, she’d gone back to die.

“I was not naive. I got the last bit of money I had, took my kids, got on a bus and came to Women’s Community House,” Miller recalls.

“I knew my parents would be at risk so I didn’t go to them. By that time there was no doubt in my mind that man was going to try and kill me.”

But Miller faced the same issue many abused women face. She had no money, was more worried about her children than herself and had never reported the abuse to the police.

Despite all that, she decided to see a lawyer. What the lawyer told her chilled her to the bone.

“She said I had no proof.”

Reality hit Miller like a sledgehammer. She might lose custody of her children.

“I said to (the lawyer), ‘I’ll get you proof.’ “

She called her husband immediately and asked him to pick them up and bring them home.

“I knew he would kill me and I was going back to die. I didn’t want to live anymore. That was the only way I knew for certain that my kids would be safe.”

Miller went back to her abuser and the abuse continued. For most of a year, her husband walked around with a rubber hose around his neck.

“For the last year he begged me to put myself, the kids and him in the car. He wanted a suicide pact,” Miller says.

Then came the night Miller’s life changed – the night at Fiddler’s Green.

“We were at my parents’ apartment on Fiddler’s Green, which was fortunate, because if I had been on the farm, I would be dead,” she says.

John telephoned his father and the two got into an argument.

“When he got off the phone his eyes greyed over and I knew this was the time.”

Miller’s youngest child was asleep. She sent the older kids into the bedroom, not wanting them to see what was going to happen.

John beat her. Her kids stayed in the room but with all “the bumping around” they came out.

“Every time he hit me I would match it with love. I told him things would be all right. He said ‘every time you say that I’m going to hit you.’ I wanted to die.”

The assault continued. Then her husband began to strangle her.

“Until then, I welcomed death. That was my plan for a year . . . to die so my kids were going to be safe. I was going to be dead but they weren’t going to be with him.”

But then something odd happened. As she was about to pass out, she says, she saw a “white-robed figure” who said “think of your children.”

Her husband got off her.

“I call it divine intervention. I didn’t want to die anymore. I wanted to live for my children.”

John left her alone and then asked her to call his father again. When his father didn’t answer the telephone, he resumed the assault.

Miller knew she had to get outside the apartment and somehow managed to get the door unlocked. But he followed her out.

“I hadn’t screamed until then but when I was outside, I screamed. One neighbour lady came to the door. I was badly beaten. I had signs of strangulation, my eyes almost closed.

“He looked at her and said ‘go back in the apartment.’ He was trying to drag me back into the apartment. I mouthed, ‘call the police.’ She is the woman I give credit for saving my life.”

Miller managed to fight him off.

He left her outside and shut the door. But he wasn’t done.

“I knew the woman had called the police – we were just biding time,” Miller says.

“But he forced my three-year-old son to say through the door, ‘please come in mom.’ (John) kept saying ‘you’d better get in here or I am going to throw him out the window.’ “

It was then that the man who would do so much for Miller appeared. A police officer came through the elevator door.

“He was by himself and he told me he had to wait for backup,” Miller says. “I couldn’t wait. I told John that I would count to three and at three he could open the door and I would come in. The police officer was beside himself, mouthing ‘no, no, no.’ But I had my kids in there. I counted ‘one, two . . .’ and just before three the elevator door opened and the other police officer arrived. At three, John opened the door and the officers rushed in and took him.”

Miller’s children were physically unhurt.

She was badly beaten, the back of her hands raw to the flesh where John had rubbed them along the brick wall. Yet all she could think about were her children.

“I was angry, raging. I didn’t want to give a statement or go to the hospital, even though that’s what they needed. I just wanted the police to go away. I was in shock,” Miller says.

But the first officer who arrived on the scene stayed with her and calmed her down.

He leaned over and said something to her that Miller to this day won’t repeat.

“It formed a bond between us. I trusted him.”

From that moment on, the officer was with her. He looked after her baby while Miller was treated. He went to Miller’s parents and gave them advice on how to be safe. When she had to go to the police station for pictures, the officer was there and would carry her six-month-old baby around the station house and play with her.

The officer had a baby around the same age as Miller’s child.

When John was released from custody, the officer went to the shelter in London where Miller was staying and warned her.

“I was really, really frightened but he arranged for me to go to a shelter in Woodstock,” she says. “He arranged for a police escort so I could get there safely.”

He did what agencies recommend today, only he did it 30 years ago.

The officer also took her a subpoena to appear in court.

It never got to court. John pleaded guilty to the abuse.

He was given six months.

* * *

Almost 29 years after the night she was almost killed, Miller is doing what she wanted to do most.

She is working as a counsellor with abused women at the London Abused Women’s Centre.

Miller is 58. She has four children now, three grandchildren, and is married to a good guy. She graduated from Fanshawe College with the goal of working with abused women.

It took her awhile to work directly with abused women because she was still getting over her own abusive situation and “wasn’t far enough removed from it.”

She worked as a counsellor at Women Immigrants of London, thanks to a subsidized wage program from government funding.

She worked at Second Stage Housing and after being laid off in the Mike Harris government era, worked at McMaster University before working at a private college in Brantford.

She made her way back to London and for the last six years has been at the abused women’s centre.

One of Miller’s areas of expertise is women in conflict with the law. She also speaks to police about how to respond to calls of domestic violence and what to expect in that situation.

“A year ago now, I went to do some police training and I always tell my story,” she says. “Whenever I tell it, I say that if I knew the name of the police officer who took care of me, I would mention it because he’s a big part of why I am alive.”

Many times over the years Miller had thought of that police officer, wondering what happened to him, if he was still on the street or even in law enforcement. All she had was her subpoena. The officer’s name wasn’t on it.

Sitting in the audience during one of her presentations was Sgt. Mary Ellen Costea, the domestic violence co-ordinator for the London police force.

“She said to me, ‘Do you want me to find out the police officer’s name? I think I can help you.’ Tears came to my eyes and I said ‘yes.’ “

It wasn’t long until Costea called Miller.

“I found out who he is,” she said.

“Are you sitting down?”

* * *

The officer who was first to the scene that September day was 23 years old. He’d been on the London force less than three years. He got the call at 6:40 p.m. By 6:52 he had arrested the abuser.

Twelve minutes – 12 minutes that changed Miller’s life and earned the officer her eternal gratitude.

Handling a domestic abuse case in 1983 was far different than how it’s handled today. There wasn’t the training or understanding of the trauma the victim or police officer would go through. Yet this officer handled it that day and the days afterward with the kind of understanding that would have been impressive if it had been handled today.

* * *

Ask anyone today about deputy police chief Brent Shea and, to a person, they talk about how he is a terrific guy. He’s gentle, understanding and never seems rattled.

There are many reasons Shea has moved up the ranks from a 23-year-old constable in 1983 to becoming one of the three most highly ranked police officers in London in 2011. Many were evident on that September day when he saved Miller’s life.

Miller recalls meeting Shea again, 29 years after that night.

“He opened the door and he was there in his white shirt and office. I sat across from him. My voice is hardly coming out and I’m shaking and I have the subpoena in my hand.

“He says to me ‘your name wasn’t Miller at the time. The incident happened on Fiddler’s Green and it was horrific and how are your children?’ Then he reached over and touched my hand. It was just the two of us.”

As he did almost 30 years ago, he managed to calm her down.

It didn’t take much to jog Shea’s memory of that night. Though Miller didn’t tell him why she wanted to meet him, Shea found out.

He still has his notes on the case, 10 notebook pages filled.

“I remembered immediately,” he says. “It was funny the things that stick in your memory. I remember she was badly beaten. Both eyes were black, a broken front tooth, bleeding from the lips, a cut ankle.

“As I was reading the notes what tweaked me about the call was that she’d said that they’d come into the city, to her parents place because they had a colour TV. They had videos they wanted to watch. Of all the things that you remember, I remember that. They wanted to come into the city to have a nice evening.”

He reads from his notes the statement given by the neighbour who made the call to the police.

“She came out and Judy was screaming and being dragged down the hall back to her apartment by the hair. She asked ‘are you OK,’ ” Shea says. “He kept yelling ‘tell her you’re OK.’ Judy somehow managed to signal to the neighbour to call the police, all the while saying that she was ‘OK.’ “

Shea stops for a moment, going back to that day.

“I can visualize the apartment and the walls. I can remember her trying to get back in. She’s beaten up badly and he’s looking through the peep hole telling her to stand up so he can see her or he’s going to kill the kids.

“I kept thinking I have to get those kids. I have to keep them safe. Her terror isn’t for herself. Her terror is for her kids. The terror for their children puts them at risk. They succumb to things they might not if the kids aren’t there. She’s trying to get back in to see her kids. She’s prepared to put herself in worse jeopardy.

“I can remember, when he opened the door we grabbed him and arrested him and he said something like ‘OK, you got me. I guess I deserve what I get.’ “

From that point Shea, a young father, made sure Miller and her kids were as safe as possible.

He saw to it that Miller knew if her abuser was out and about. Shea arranged for Miller to go to another city’s shelter when her husband was released.

Shea said he didn’t do anything other officers wouldn’t have done, that the police force at the time was progressive in the area of domestic abuse.

Maybe.

But Miller remembers the care Shea took with her young baby, flying her around the squad room like she was an airplane.

Why the extra effort?

“It’s what we do,” Shea says. “It was the right thing to do.”

* * *

Some would call this story coincidence.

There’s nothing further from reality. This story is about hope, but it’s also an example of what can be achieved when everyone becomes a link in the chain.

Judy Miller suffered horrible abuse. She survived to become a counsellor to abuse victims and a teacher to police officers.

She is an example of how the system works. Her own courage saved her but she had help from the police, the justice system, shelters, advocacy agencies, government programs and the education system. If one link fails, the chain breaks.

Brent Shea was the first link in the chain. Now, as one of the top officers in the London police force, he has seen thousands of cases. But he understands, thanks to Miller’s desire to find him, the impact that first link has.

It’s also a story about how given a chance there’s no telling how far a victim of abuse or a police constable can go in this world.

“I was touched she came to talk to me,” Shea says. “We don’t know the impact we have. We do it day in, day out, not all like Judy’s case because that was so violent. But all officers do it, not just the Brents of the world. They deal with domestic incidents on a regular basis. I would have never known we had that kind of impact.

“The value of telling her story is huge. She has massive strength. She’s walking the walk. She is an amazing example of a survivor. I thank God for the Judys of this world.”

While telling this story, Judy Miller cries only three times. She cries when she thinks about her children, when she talks about the neighbour who called police the night of the final assault and when she talks of her first meeting a year ago with Brent Shea.

“I only cry with gratitude,” she says. “You have to believe that life can be different. You can’t see it when you are in it. It’s hard to have that faith and belief “For me, it was the rainbow intertwined in the clouds. Everyone played a role, which allowed me to live and be where I am now.”

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2011/12/09/19104786.html

The Conservative government’s crime bill is now expected to pass in the senate after clearing the House of Commons.

The Safe Streets and Communities Act is one sweeping piece of legislation compiled of nine separate bills.

It passed easily by a 30 vote margin and officials say it will likely pass through the senate as well.

Meanwhile…Megan Walker of the London Abused Women’s Centre is protesting on Parliament Hill with about 500 people about the elimination of the long gun registry.

The protest comes in conjuction with remembrance of the 14 women killed 22 years ago in the Ecole Polytechnique Massacre in Montreal, in which 25 year old Marc Lepine opened fire on female students before killing himself.

http://www.cjbk.com/LocalNews/Story.aspx?ID=1582259

By LONDON FREE PRESS

And so, for London Public Library, the balancing act continues.

Caught between pressure from city hall to keep porn off library computers and its own mandate to provide unfettered access to information, the library walks a fine line.

The library board this week opted to stay the course.

It won’t place porn filters on computers used by adults despite pressure from council and community activists such as Megan Walker of the London Abused Women’s Centre. Walker linked violent and pornographic website content to abuse of women and children.

Under existing library policy, porn is filtered from computers used by children, teens and job-seekers in the employment resource area.

Council, using its fiscal clout as major funder of the library, sought similar filters on all computers after an impassioned pitch from Walker.

The library, which reviews its Internet service policy annually, argued against that plan, citing figures that show the tiny incidence of patrons accessing porn. It noted 15 incidents so far in 2011 among the 736,000 log-ins at computers and on its wireless service.

Invariably, the library reported, when confronted by staff, patrons viewing such content stopped and apologized.

But the library noted it could do more, and still keep open access for adults.

As of March 1, the library plans to deal with skyrocketing use of its wireless Internet by patrons with handheld or laptop devices. Authentication will be required by way of library card or temporary pass, details to be worked out to accommodate out-of-towners.

And “extreme adult” content is to be banned from computers used by children and teens. That is material depicting extreme violence, torture and mutilation.

The latter suggestion came from board chair Josh Morgan who said it keeps the balance between the right to information and the need to ensure young Londoners are protected from objectionable content.

“I’m not suggesting we block this for everybody,” he said.

In the end, even Walker seemed satisfied with the tweaking of Internet rules, saying it’s a step in the right direction.

Balance achieved. For now.

— London Free Press

http://www.lfpress.com/comment/editorial/2011/11/25/19020931.html

Click HERE for the statement

Thursday, November, 24, 2011 – 8:08:12 PM

PUBLIC COMPUTERS

By CHIP MARTIN, THE LONDON FREE PRESS

The London Public Library board tweaked its Internet service policy slightly Thursday, but held fast to its policy against blocking adult computers from porn sites.

In its annual review of the sometimes-controversial Internet use, board members voted to clarify user responsibilities and prevent children from accessing “extreme adult” Internet sites that contain violence, torture and mutilation.

“I see this as one step in our progress toward a porn-free library,” Megan Walker, executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre, said after the board decision.

A harsh critic of unfiltered computers because of the harm porn inflicts on women and children, Walker watched the debate with approval and immediately afterward congratulated board chairperson Josh Morgan.

“Thank you, Josh, for that step forward,” she told Morgan.

Walker said there still needs to be clarification of board policies governing complaints by library patrons about those who view objectionable Internet content.

But she welcomed the addition of “extreme adult” content that will be banned from computers to which children and teens have access.

The board also voted to come up with some clarification about user responsibilities to clearly define pornography. Staff was asked to come back with better wording at an upcoming meeting.

As well as the tweaking, the library expects to begin requiring user-authentication through library cards for the growing number of wireless Internet users. That is to begin March 1, and staff will attempt to find a way to accommodate out-of-towners and those attending meetings or events at the library.

Nancy Branscombe, a member of city council and member of the library board, said she is pleased with the access policy for now.

E-mail chip.martin@sunmedia.ca, or follow Chipatlfpress on Twitte

The London library board sided with staff Thursday, voting to keep computers unfiltered for pornography.

The unanimous approval of the library’s internet service policy will maintain the status quo — limiting filtering software to only some computers, mainly those used by youths and those set aside for specific purposes like job searches.

Megan Walker, executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre, who helped lead a campaign to oust porn from the library, said there was at least one success — board members’ unanimous support of a proposal that would block extremely violent websites from computers used by youths, Walker said.

“I consider this to be one step in a long process toward a pornography-free library,” she said.

The library board has considered the pornography issue before, but Walker raised it most recently in August. Before making a graphic presentation about pornography at the library board’s October meeting, Walker won support for the issue from city councillors.

While the city can’t order that the library add filters, councillors recommended in August that the library consider adding pornography filters as part of its annual internet policy review. Nancy Branscombe and Matt Brown, council’s representatives on the library board, both supported the council motion this summer.

Brown, speaking after Thursday’s vote, said he did what he and other councillors approved — considered the issue.

“I’ve spent three months, probably read thousands of pages of material,” he said, “I think that filters are one of the many tools staff members have in their toolbox to protect children and youth. … Given the current provincial and federal legislation, they are being deployed correctly.”

Library board members did approve some minor tweaks to the policy, mostly wording changes meant to remind people that library policies apply to people using wireless.

Aside from asking for a staff report on blocking the violent websites, board members also asked staff to provide more information about the cost and feasibility of adding filters to information accessed wirelessly.

The proposal is intended to apply only to children and teens.

http://www.metronews.ca/london/local/article/1033738–library-computers-to-remain-unfiltered-for-porn

London Public Library staff are not buying into a request that pornography filters be added to all computers.

In a review of the library’s Internet service policy, staff are recommending only minor “wording” changes to the guidelines. None has to do with filters, despite a city-council directive that the software be installed.

Members of the library board are expected to adopt the policy — as they do each year — at tonight’s meeting and still could push the filters through. In the past, however, board members have backed the staff position that filters could restrict information and hinder research.

Josh Morgan, the board chairman, said board members have to decide if the status quo fulfils the library’s mission of creating a “safe and welcoming place … for people and their families. That’s what the board has to discuss,” he said.

The prospect of adding filters cropped up most recently when Megan Walker, executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre, and others piled on council with complaints about people scrolling porn sites.

But in the report to be tabled tonight, library staff highlight that only 10 complaints about people viewing “objectionable” content were received in 2010, a year that tallied about 699,500 computer users. Through Nov. 17 of this year, 736,000 people had used the Internet and 15 complaints had been received.

Of the overall complaints, two involved patrons who were touching themselves inappropriately while looking at the content. Both had their library privileges revoked, the report says.

While only some library computers have mandatory filters — mainly those used by children, teens and for job searches — Morgan stressed that staff can add the software to other terminals as needed.

http://www.metronews.ca/london/local/article/1033080–keep-porn-filter-policy-as-is-library-staff-say

Anti-porn Advocates Remain Committed to Porn Free Public Spaces

By: Megan Walker

The London Abused Women’s Centre, along with Stop Porn Culture, Men Against Sex Trafficking and the London Anti-trafficking Coalition have taken a strong stand against pornography being made available on computers at the London Public Library. The coalition was supported by London Police Service, the Children’s Aid Society of London and Middlesex, Merrymount Children’s Centre and numerous Londoners.

As part of the process, the coalition made a pornography presentation to both London City Council and the London Public Library Board.

The coalition recommended the following:

• The London Public Library Board install filters against pornography on all computers AND/OR develop a porn free computer policy; and,
• The London Public Library Board develop a wireless policy requiring authentication for all WiFi users.

At its meeting on November 24, 2011, the London Public Library Board agreed to the following:

• To request staff to provide an example of inappropriate computer use with a definition of pornography being used;
• To request staff to report back on installing filters against “extreme violence” on the children and teen computers;
• To request staff provide clarity to its complaints policy and better communication to patrons on the policy; and,
• To request staff report back on privacy issues and guest access regarding the authentication for WiFi users

The coalition is supportive of these recommendations and believes it is a step forward towards a porn free environment at the London Public Library. We will continue in our efforts towards creating porn-free public spaces.

Women’s advocates often face backlash in advocating for change. It is expected. We are often personally targeted with inappropriate comments. More commonly with the pornography issue, we are called bullies and/or manipulative. This is expected and started almost immediately after the London Public Library Board meeting.

Calling anti-porn advocates bullies shifts the focus from the real bullies – the porn industry. The industry uses its enormous profits to bully the public into a misogynist sexuality. The industry goes after any group that tries to limit the corporate power of the porn industry. To suggest that an individual or coalition who questions the power of this industry is a bully is to turn reality on its head. Since when did this industry have the uncontested right to invade every area of private and public life?

As for manipulation, it appears that because the coalition made a powerful and graphic presentation to both London City Council and the London Public Library Board, there is a view it was done to “shock” the public, Council and the Board into supporting us. It is true there is a range of sexually explicit material from soft-core to more extreme pornography. The coalition’s presentation highlighted the latter because many people are not aware of it and because it’s where the industry has steadily moved. Pornography pushes toward extreme images as it tries to hold onto customers. We invite our opponents to Google the word “porn” and look at the first few results. They will see for themselves that we did not use the worst examples, just the dead average ones.

The coalition will not be silenced or intimidated by those who disagree with us. We will continue to work towards ensuring the London Public Library becomes porn free.