LIFE*SPIN
Low Income Family Empowerment -
Sole Support Information Network
MEDIA
RELEASE
For immediate Release: December 6, 2002
LIFE*SPIN announced today the launch of a research project in London
with the hope and goal that the information gathered will lead to welfare
changes that help women and honour those whose lives are directly affected
by abuse.
LIFE*SPIN, London’s member in the Ontario Social Safety Network (which currently has Intervener Status at the Inquest into the death of Kimberly Rogers) is conducting local research into the “Impact of Modern Welfare Reforms on the Safety and Equality of Women Abused in Their Intimate Relationships”. Joint research fellows of the Ontario Social Safety Net/Work include three esteemed academics: Pat Evans, Margaret Little and Janet Mosher, as well as the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses.
One woman in London, Karen, stated “Big brother – or welfare- is like a pimp: promising you a better life, knowing your vulnerability, and you are carried into a nightmare life of mere existence with false hopes of safety, your sense of who you are and what you want slowly diminishes. Once thoughts of hope turn to despair, you are trapped and left waiting only for some sort of miracle to pull you back up.”
Rose White of LIFE*SPIN noted, “the Provincial Auditor and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts may be critical of the 246 million dollars spent on Anderson/Accenture Consulting, however we have a real problem in that they have not done anything to help or empower people to get out of the welfare trap. Anderson simply designed a system to discriminate against the most disadvantaged in our community, kicking them while they are down”.
Karen agrees, “every act in your daily life is scrutinized or judged and permission must be asked and granted or you will be punished by homelessness or starvation of your children”.
Jackie Dorssers, a social worker at LIFE*SPIN, observes “for women who struggle with various forms of relationship abuse, it is unfair that society inflicts it’s own brand of systematic oppression and calls it `assistance’. It is an attempt for society to disown our sense of guilt and shame; hence we are really doing nothing but supporting the external oppression women face in our society.”
“LIFE*SPIN will be conducting 6% of the in-depth interviews across the province,” said Executive Director Jacqueline Thompson. Thompson, who serves on the Steering Committee of the Ontario Social Safety Net/Work noted however, “LIFE*SPIN also welcomes written accounts of the experience of Londoners as well. Anonymous and First name only submissions are welcomed. We hope to include the stories of people from our community in a report to council – with recommendations of how we can create local change to break the welfare cycle and actually support people who need this help.”
Please address your
submissions to
“Telling Our Stories”
c/o LIFE*SPIN
P. O. Box 2801
London, N6A 4H4.
For further information
please contact
Jackie Dossers,
Rose White, or
Jacquie Thompson
@ LIFE*SPIN 519-438-8676
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Link to the LIFE*SPIN website
LIFE*SPIN - Low Income
Family Empowerment - Sole Support Information Network
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Page last updated December 6, 2002