{"id":85328,"date":"2022-11-25T09:42:24","date_gmt":"2022-11-25T14:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=85328"},"modified":"2025-09-30T09:50:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T13:50:52","slug":"physical-activity-for-survivors-of-family-and-gender-based-violence","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/physical-activity-for-survivors-of-family-and-gender-based-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating Accessible Physical Activity for Survivors of Family and Gender-Based Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Creating Accessible Physical Activity for Survivors of Family and Gender-Based Violence\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

Content warning: please note that the article includes information about family and gender-based violence. We understand that this can trigger strong reactions and we encourage the community to connect with Carleton University\u2019s Sexual Assault Support Centre<\/a> and\/or Health and Counselling Services<\/a> for support. Additional community supports can also be found here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Physical activity has significant mental, physical and emotional benefits, but getting to the gym or participating in a sport isn\u2019t always tangible for those who have experienced or are experiencing family or gendered-based violence. Francine Darroch, a professor in Carleton\u2019s <\/span>Department of Health Sciences<\/span><\/a>, is addressing this problem with a timely project. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cPeople certainly know the benefits of physical activity, but they don’t necessarily know how or where to get involved,\u201d says Darroch. \u201cMore importantly, they often don’t feel safe in public physical activity spaces. What we\u2019re hoping to do is figure out practical strategies for how organizations can create more inclusive and safe environments.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Family violence is a serious public health problem, and currently makes up one-quarter of all violent crime in Canada. In 2019, women and girls accounted for 67% of all victims of family violence and 79% of all victims of intimate partner violence. According to a survey led by Statistics Canada, 44% of women reported experiencing some form of psychological, physical, or sexual violence by an intimate partner in their lifetimes. The impact violence leaves on survivors is immense.  <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing this issue has been made a priority in Canada. On Oct. 18, the Government of Canada <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> they will be providing nearly $2 million dollars to support and projects that prevent and address family violence. Darroch\u2019s project is receiving almost $1 million dollars. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Equity-Driven Approach<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The project, \u201cLeveraging trauma- and violence-informed physical activity to support individuals who have experienced family violence: A community-based participatory approach,\u201d will establish physical activity programs that are accessible to survivors of family or gender-based violence. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cNot everybody has the same level of access,\u201d Darroch says. \u201cPeople who have experienced any sort of trauma or violence or gender-based violence are much less likely to engage in physical activity because there’s obviously a number of competing priorities happening in their lives.\u201d <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Darroch is working with a co-principal investigator from York University, Prof. Lyndsay Hayhurst, several researchers from Carleton\u2019s Faculty of Science, and at least six graduate students on the project. They are partnered with four non-profit organizations that provide services to survivors of violence \u2014 <\/span>YWCA Crabtree Corner<\/span><\/a> in Vancouver, <\/span>St. Mary\u2019s Home,<\/span><\/a> Ottawa Community Housing Foundation<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>MLSE Launchpad<\/span><\/a> in Toronto. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Francine
Francine Darroch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first phase of the project is a research study, which Darroch says is a monumental task. It will include service provider interviews, surveys, and focus groups. It will also involve geographic information systems (GIS) research and participatory mapping. The GIS research will look at neighbourhood safety indexes, socioeconomic status, and recreation centre access, while participatory mapping will involve researchers physically exploring neighbourhoods with residents who have experienced violence.  <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ll walk through the communities with participants, and they\u2019ll tell us an area doesn\u2019t feel safe for reasons like there being no streetlights, these conversations are very important to us,\u201d says Darroch. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Once their initial study is complete, Darroch\u2019s team will begin piloting physical activity programming at their partner sites. The programs, which will be co-designed with community members, may include things like a walking program, basketball, strength and conditioning, or yoga. They will be open to women who have experienced family and gendered-based violence and their families, and will offer childcare and activities for children where available. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe really want the programs to be developed by them, for them,\u201d Darroch says. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darroch\u2019s team also plans to create several educational resources. These include virtual learning spaces for researchers, community programmers and individuals with lived experience, and comprehensive training modules for organizations. The training modules will provide strategies and best practices for creating an accessible environment for survivors. Organizations will be required to complete this training prior to employing programming and engaging with communities. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s important that organizations have core understandings of how trauma and gender-based violence impacts mental, physical, and emotional well-being and what potential triggers may manifest when they are being physically active,\u201d Darroch says. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As a lover of exercise, former competitive runner, and now as an organizer of a non-profit kids\u2019 running club, Darroch has made it her mission to making sure survivors of trauma have access to physical activity. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t going to solve all of our problems, but I think it\u2019s one positive step in the right direction.\u201d <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, Carleton University will share a variety of resources, information, stories and videos to help grow awareness about this issue and encourage everyday activism and commitment to ending gender-based violence. Visit our 16 Days of Activism page<\/a> to learn more.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Francine Darroch, a professor in Carleton\u2019s Department of Health Sciences, is helping survivors of family and gender-based violence access physical activity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":85339,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[13,1931],"cu_story_tag":[1930,1919],"class_list":["post-85328","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-research-discovery","cu_story_type-social-innovation","cu_story_tag-equity-diversity-and-inclusion","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-science"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/85328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/85328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97353,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/85328\/revisions\/97353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=85328"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=85328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}