I had a conversation with a friend and colleague who had recently left an abusive situation. We talked about what we could do to bring an end to domestic violence and what changes we needed to make as a society. She believes that in order to enact real and lasting change, the first step we need to take is to increase awareness of this issue. This revelation was the result of encounters with people who think that domestic violence no longer exists.
She then told me about the The Power and Control Wheel that detailed the methods that male abusers use to dominate their female partners. When I came home tonight, the first thing I did was to search for this wheel. I found it on the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Violence Prevention Initiative website.
The corresponding equality wheel found on the same site showed what healthy relationships based of equality and fairness should look like.
I told her about my tentative idea of lesson plans regarding healthy relationships, etc. and asked for her opinion. She said that she thought it was a good idea and that lasting change will take several generations. The way forward would be to educate children and show them what a healthy relationship should look like. She suggested that lesson plans based on this idea could be part of health or sex-ed classes.
