Actions Femmes exploring violence against women in P.E.I.'s French communities

The P.E.I. government has provided funding for a Summerside group that hopes to learn more about the challenges faced by French-speaking women when dealing with family violence.

Actions Femmes I.P.E. was founded in the 1970s to support Acadian and French-speaking women on the Island. It was recently given $10,000 for a project that will not only consultsurvivors of violence about their experiences, but also share those voices.

Group executive director Johanna Venturini said the province's Acadian and French-speaking populations are largely in rural areas, and that can create challenges beyond any language barriers.

"When you are in a very small rural community, everyone knows each other. Sometimes it can be helpful but we know that sometimes people can talk a lot and gossip can circulate very quickly," said Venturini.

"If you are experiencing violence, you don't really want that everyone knows about it. So it can be sometimes why a victim will prefer to hide in a situation and not want to leave her home."

By talking to survivors of violence, Actions Femmes hopes to learn more about how to help Acadian and French-speaking women on the Island.

By sharing their stories, the group intends tolet people know that domestic violence can happen even in small communities, and it is everyone's business to help stop it.

There are a number of avenues for women experiencing domestic violence to seek help, said Venturini.

• 911 for immediate emergencies.
• P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Centre.
• Family Violence Prevention Services.
• 211 for help navigating the services available.

While primarily English, these services do have bilingual staff available. Actions Femmes wants to learn how these services are helping French-speaking women, as well as any ways they might be failing them.

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