Grant: Planning Grants - Priority Announcement: International Research Collaborations

Violence against women is a major public health issue with significant costs to the community beyond individual victims. Anti-violence workers such as women's shelter staff comprise a growing occupational sector with unique health and safety needs. Despite intervening in serious violence from highly motivated offenders, staff experiences of work-related violence, threats, and intimidation have never been studied in Canada. International studies indicate that anti-violence workers experience everything from harassing phone calls to stalking and attempted homicide. We will build an international team of Canadian and Australian scholars and consult with the Canadian Network of Women's Shelters and Transition Houses to accomplish foundational planning for a comparative study that will produce best practices for promoting the health and safety of workers in the anti-violence sector. This project will enhance the safety of workers and improve care to survivors of violence by providing guidance for systematic change to improve safety practices. A three day intensive meeting in Toronto will allow face-to face discussion of academic, ethical, and logistical issues that need to be addressed before undertaking community research. We will: collaboratively complete the foundational planning for a study about health and safety issues and practices for workers in the anti-violence sector in Canada and Australia; Consult key networks of anti-violence workers to learn about their concerns and ensure participation in research; Identify research questions; Develop work plans, research instruments, sampling strategies, and protocols; Select appropriate funding sources and apply for funding in Canada and Australia. The immediate outcome of the project will be completion of the preparation required to conduct the Safe at Work study. The long term result will be ongoing international collaboration on this and future research.