Narrating intimate partner violence : reclaiming Indigenous women's voices

• Main Author: Vu, Chen
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2017
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/63411

Statistics Canada (2009) indicates Indigenous women are at the highest risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) as they experience it at rates three times higher than others. Research on this topic is often detached from the community, thereby, limiting women's ability to assert their voices. There also remains crucial gaps in knowledge on factors that attribute to Indigenous women ending the cycle of IPV. Thus, this research aims to create space for Indigenous women to share their stories and voice their own reflections on the process of how they ended IPV in their lives, in a way that is more empowering and meaningful. Recruitment was conducted through snowball sampling, partaking in community events, and by sending out posters and letters of invitation to organizations. Using a traditional Indigenous practice within a collaborative focus group narrative design, a sharing circle was facilitated with a group of five Indigenous women over the age of 18. In the circle women shared their stories, engaged in discussion, and participated in a oral analysis of the themes in their individual stories, as well as the collective narratives. The identification of themes by the participants themselves, allowed for the participants voices' to be expressed within the results of the research itself. Following this, a secondary six-step thematic analysis was conducted by the researcher in order to situate the data within the themes as described by the participants. All findings were reported back to participants for validity checks to ensure collaboration in all stages of the research. Results of this research will ultimately inform counselling and other professional practices as it will add to the foundation of knowledge needed in order for the resolution of IPV against Indigenous women. === Education, Faculty of === Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of === Graduate