LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
A session at Aurora College in Fort Simpson that closed on Dec. 10 with the Women's Warrior Song dealt with the importance of giving back power to victims of violence.

Mel Sabourin, left, listens while Harriet Geddes gives a closing speech during an interagency meeting on Dec. 10. - April Hudson/NNSL photo

The session, led by University of Victoria professor and psychologist Cathy Richardson, brought together social workers, members of the Fort Simpson Justice Committee, Victim Services, Dehcho Health and Social Services and other community groups.

Richardson's area of expertise is called Response Based Practice, which focuses on the victim as an active person rather than passive

"Part of my work is based on this belief that if we have a shared analysis of violence, we're more likely to provide appropriate assistance for people," she said.

"The foundations are based in the spirit of human dignity and that you must always uphold the dignity of other people -- particularly those who have been the most harmed."

Response Based Practice has its roots in the idea that people resist violence, a notion Richardson said is fairly new to the psychological community.

"Psychological language often talks about people as if they were impacted, or as if they were passive objects," she said

"We know people are active, agentive (performing an act) and intelligent, and they're always using whatever resources are available to them to try to maximize their own safety and dignity ... when violence is occurring."

Her session in Fort Simpson took place over two days. During that time, she discussed her work with two dozen community members.

"One of the things that's really important in social services work is a spirit of collaboration between people in different agencies," she said.

"The more co-operation there is between people in different agencies, the better services clients are going to receive. People are less likely to fall through the cracks if we know what each of us is doing in the social services community."

During the two-day workshop, attendees shared ideas on how to work together to respond positively to situations. Part of that, Richardson said, is the importance of positive social responses.

"Often, it's not the initial act of violence that really causes harm and suffering in the long run ... it's actually what happens after disclosure, (if) we get negative social responses," she said.

"I think the most important thing people said they came away with was the idea that to help people recover, we have to restore dignity. A huge part of violence is the humiliation we feel."

The session concluded with a closing remark from Fort Providence elder Harriet Geddes.

Geddes said one of the important aspects of helping community members is to listen.

"We have to support one another," she said.

"We have to learn to accept who they are and where they came from."

Richardson said her approach to aiding victims of abuse helps to open up the conversation in a more "empowering" way.

"When we take something like residential school, we don't have conversations about how people resisted, how children resisted the violence of priests and nuns," she said.

"While there is harm done and it's difficult to find appropriate ways to talk about suffering, my colleagues and I find it much more helpful to look at the human spirit and the thing people learn to do to stay alive."

As a founder for the Centre for Response Based Practice, Richardson has done presentations across the Northwest Territories for years, as well as in the Yukon.

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