Abused women run to Ruth’s Daughters of Canada
TORONTO, ON—One in four women will experience violence in her lifetime, says Member of Provincial Parliament Cheri DiNovo, including those in faith communities.. Yet many are often too ashamed to tell anyone.
The NDP representative for Parkdale-High Park (Toronto) knows this, is helping to create a safe place for such women to run to—a sanctuary called Ruth's Daughters of Canada.
"We have a quiet war on our hands," says DiNovo, an ordained minister, "and as Christians, we are called to those places of hurt and shame and violence. We're called as peacemakers."
With this in mind, DiNovo met on May 6 with media personnel as well as imams, priests and ministers in Queen's Park and announced the formation of Ruth's Daughters—a faith-based initiative intended to mobilize women to care for spiritual sisters suffering from domestic violence.
"Women are the backbones of our congregations," says DiNovo, who named the initiative after the Old Testament book of Ruth. "We're always caring for others. I thought, 'Wouldn't it be interesting if we unleashed the incredible wisdom of women unto themselves?'"
With a board of nine women representing a potpourri of faiths, DiNovo is helping to facilitate Ruth's Daughters chapters across Ontario. Chapters are comprised of a minimum of six women of varying faiths who are concerned about the issue of domestic violence. Committed to meeting six times a year to pray and share, DiNovo hopes these women will then take their ideas back to their synagogues, mosques and churches.
"We're not calling upon these women to become counsellors, because we're dealing with a very serious issue," says DiNovo. "If there's a sign someone needs help, they need to be referred, because we believe there's a role professionals can play. We're hoping to create safe places, inside and outside of places of worship."
The idea for Ruth's Daughters was conceived years ago, when DiNovo—elected MPP in September of 2006—was serving as minister of Emmanuel-Howard Park United Church.
"One Saturday afternoon, a middle-class congregant burst into the church, saying her husband was chasing her," DiNovo recalls. "She asked if she could go somewhere safe. I locked her in my office, and her husband soon followed in a total rage, banging on doors and windows."
It was then that DiNovo realized the need for a safe place for women of faith dealing with domestic violence. She is hopeful the congregational chapters will grow into something larger.
"In a year or two we hope to bring all of these [Ruth's Daughters] together for a conference where we'll have joyous worship and a keynote speaker, and out of that incredible think-tank of energy and wisdom will come vibrant stories," says DiNovo, "and hopefully something bigger will emerge that we can all pursue together."
There's no telling what Ruth's Daughters might lead to, she adds. After all, "When you get the power of women and prayer together, you can do anything."
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