Media releases

  • Institutions must do more to support those with mental health says Roméo Dallaire

    MEDIA RELEASE: 1 December 2017 – R00228

    We as Canadians must do a better job of both recognizing and supporting those around us who are struggling with mental health.

    That was the message from Lieutenant-General (ret) Roméo Dallaire as he addressed a crowd at Brock University to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Friday, Dec. 1.

    Speaking to a large crowd at the University’s Sean O’Sullivan Theatre, Dallaire told graphic stories of his time serving as Force Commander of the United Nations peacekeeping effort during the Rwandan genocide in 1993-94, and what impact that and other conflicts have on veterans like himself.

    “The injuries they had in combat were not bullet wounds or shrapnel, the injuries were between their ears,” said Dallaire. “They came home and nobody understood them and they couldn’t get the support. As such, the walking wounded got worse, the wounds grew deeper and they ultimately destroyed themselves.”

    Dallaire has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder since the peacekeeping mission and is now a champion for veterans’ mental health.

    “I wasn’t the same person I was when I left for Africa,” he said. “The individual who my wife married was not the same person who came back. There was somebody different who had been affected deeply and significantly. How can you live with that? How can you adapt to that?”

    Dallaire’s talk at Brock was spearheaded by Chris Lytle, the University’s Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Co-ordinator, who wanted to bring attention to the fact that invisible disabilities like mental health, which often don’t get the same recognition, are still disabilities.

    “I think it’s huge to have General Dallaire here at Brock. It’s not in Toronto or in another province, it’s happening right here in the Niagara region. It’s a huge opportunity for us to look at this information and have conversations to go forward and make systemic change,” he said. “Other places will look to Brock’s leadership for having done this.”

    During his hour-long address, Dallaire challenged the leadership of colleges and universities to do a better job of taking care of their students.

    “The student body faces an enormous amount of strain and pressure. The question is, are we recognizing that pressure? Are we giving them the tools to build resiliency to handle it?” he asked. “If you’re bringing them to the institution, the institution must be prepared that it’s creating casualties. They have got to take care of them.”

    He encouraged schools to be inclusive and nurture peer support.

    “Peer support is crucial in order to handle the complexities of our times,” he said.

    Friday’s talk drew a large audience of Brock students, faculty and staff, as well as many from the wider community.

    Katy Sniderhan heard about Dallaire’s visit from her brother, a Brock student, and made the four-hour drive from outside Belleville to hear the General speak.

    “I learned about the Rwandan genocide in Grade 9 and have been following him ever since. I’ve been wanting to see him for years,” she said. “Because of what he did, I started doing mission work. It really inspired me to help people wherever I can.”

    At the end of the event Friday, Dallaire was presented with a Convo Plate by Brock President Gervan Fearon. The symbolic plate is part of a nationwide movement meant to spark conversations about mental health.

    For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

    * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

    Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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    Categories: Media releases

  • Despite three decades of activism, violence against women not decreasing

    MEDIA RELEASE: 30 November 2017 – R00227

    The Dec. 6, 1989 École Polytechnique massacre changed the conversation around violence against women, and led to the creation of Brock University’s Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies.

    But Brock Assistant Professor Robyn Bourgeois, an indigenous woman who was a victim of violence as a teenager, says that despite nearly three decades of activism, violence against women is still very much a reality.

    “While we certainly have more social awareness and, more importantly, more resources for those experiencing violence than we did in 1989, we still have a long way to go in Canada to achieve the goal of ending violence against women and girls,” says Bourgeois, also known by her indigenous spirit name Laughing Otter Caring Woman.

    Two years after the mass shooting that killed 14 women, Dec. 6 was named the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada.

    Brock’s Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies holds an event each year to observe the anniversary, and this year Bourgeois will give a public talk highlighting the need for more action on the issue.

    Bourgeois is a survivor of violence, having been trafficked for sexual exploitation in her late teens, and she says that for indigenous women and girls like herself, the odds of being a victim of a violent crime are five times higher than for non-indigenous women.

    “I live every day with the knowledge that because my two children are indigenous females with status under the Indian Act, they face only a 50 per cent chance of reaching age 14 and a 25 per cent chance of reaching age 18 without experiencing some form of sexual violence,” she says.

    In addition to presenting and publishing nationally and internationally on the topic of violence against indigenous women and girls, Bourgeois has been advocating for women in Canada for nearly 20 years.

    She says that living in poverty, involvement in the sex trade and being racialized, disabled, queer or transgender not only increases the vulnerability of women and girls in Canada, but it also shapes how these individuals experience the justice system, social services and health services.

    Bourgeois’s talk will highlight indigenous women and girls to show how all violence is connected.

    “Ending violence against all women and girls requires that we examine our complicity with the dominant social systems of oppression — heteropatriarchy, colonialism, racism, ableism and classism — and work together to dismantle them,” she says.

    What: December 6: Why this day still matters so much

    Who: Robyn Bourgeois (Laughing Otter Caring Woman), Assistant Professor, Centre of Women’s and Gender Studies

    When: Dec. 6, noon to 1:30 p.m.

    Where: Brock University, Academic South Room STH216

    For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

    * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

    Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.

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    Categories: Media releases