This page is an excerpt from:
 Helping Children Thrive: Supporting Woman Abuse Survivors as Mothers
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Working with Abused Women:
Assumptions and Values
How we assist women reflects our values and assumptions about parenting, woman abuse, and service provision.
Parenting is...
the most important role we play in life
a learned behaviour: no parent is perfect but we can become the best parent we can be
primarily the responsibility of mothers when fathers are absent and/or abusive
never to involve corporal punishment as discipline
the best way to promote healing and health in children who lived with violence
Woman Abuse is...
a pattern of coercive behaviour used to maintain control over a partner
physical, emotional, sexual, or financial abuse, enforced social isolation and intimidation
a learned behaviour
never justified by the behaviour of the victim
never caused by anger, stress, drugs/alcohol, or external factors or pressures
always the responsibility of the perpetrator
found in all age, cultural, socio-economic, educational, and religious groups
not healthy for the children who live with it
a factor that puts children at risk for physical maltreatment themselves
Services are...
premised on safety as the first priority
non-judgmental, respectful, encouraging, and only appropriately challenging
individualized to a woman's unique needs and desired pace of change
an opportunity to model respect, positive female roles, and empathy
based on the themes of triumph and survival rather than a victim status
respectful of a woman's culture and religion
ideally delivered in a language with which the woman feels comfortable
Every person holds a set of beliefs about violence, parenting, and service provision. If your beliefs conflict with these assumptions, discuss them with a supervisor. Service providers using this resource should feel comfortable with these assumptions.
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Looking for information on working with abused women? Have a look at this book from 2008, called
Helping an Abused Woman: 101 Things to Know, Say & Do
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