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. about , By Noel Duignan, MPP This week Td like to talk Wife _- Assault Prevention Month. A few days ago I received a call from a constituent who com- plained about the money being spent on shelters for abused women and children. He was partly right. We shouldn’t have to spend money on measures to protect women — there should be no need for shelters and transi- tion houses. But until vio- lence. against ‘women becomes relegated to the his- tory books, our government will continue to fund shelters and programs and public edu- cation campaigns. At the beginning of this month, Marion Body, Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues, declared November as Wife Assault Prevention Month. In her statement to the Legislature, the Minister made it quite clear that tough Wife Assault Prevention month een’s Park Report economic times are no excuse for this crime. She referred to an Angus Reid poll that showed that 67 per cent of Canadians surveyed felt that violence against women had increased over the past 10 ears. And almost one quarter of the above respondents blamed unemployment and economic hardship for the increase. Yet wife assault occurs during good times as well as bad times, and outside influences — whether they be drugs, alcohol or economic hardship — shouldn’t be seen as the causes for wife assault. Public education is one way to address the miscon- ceptions which persist and perhaps to enlighten the above constituent who seemed to think that. wife abuse was a minor problem. Nov. 1 marked the begin- ning of the eighth wife assault public education campaign. Some will complain this is just another annual campaign like all the others. But every time we run our ads or pro- vide funding to another com- munity group to-create its own prevention project, we continue to chip away at atti- tudes that allow violence against women to continue. Let’s debunk some of the misconceptions surrounding this issue. Myth: Wife assault occurs more often among certain SUP of people. ‘act: Wife assault occurs in all rane racial, economic, social and age groups. However, violence in more affluent groups is often hid- den because these women use shelters, legal clinics and other social services less ften. Myth: Men are abused by their partners as often as ‘women are. Fact: More than 93 per cent of charges related to spousal assault in Ontario are laid against men. Most charges laid against women are countér-charges laid by assaultive partners or stem from acts of self-defense. Myth: Alcohol causes men to assault their partners. Fact: Alcohol can make it easier for a man to be violent. But the real cause of wife assault is the batterer’s desire for power and control over his partner. Batterers often use alcohol as an excuse to could leave their abusive partners if they wanted to. Halton Hills This Week, Saturday, November, 13, 1993 — Page 7 wide spread pr Fact: A 1989 ae va a one in five Canadian iving with a woman admitted a violence against her. Myth: Assaulted women Fact: A woman may stay in an abusive relationship for act reasons. Here are some amples: she may hope the relationship gets better; she loesn’t want to break up the family; her partner’s abuse isolates her from friends and family; she fears for her own and her children’s safety; she depends on her partner’s income; she has nowhere else to go; she has lost self-esteem because of her partner’s abuse. Myth: Women often pro- voke assaults and deserve what they get. Fact: No woman deserves to be beaten. The crises telephone num- ber for Halton Women’s Place in Milton is 878-8555. 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