Two university researchers are looking for Saskatchewan women who are willing to be part of a study about domestic violence.
“We are looking especially for rural women,” said Wendee Kubik, of the women’s studies department at the University of Regina.
“From my previous studies with farm women, I know how women in rural areas face bigger challenges than women in urban areas.”
Isolation from others who could support them and the distance to services in nearby towns or cities are major problems for farm women.
Read Also
Stock dogs show off herding skills at Ag in Motion
Stock dogs draw a crowd at Ag in Motion. Border collies and other herding breeds are well known for the work they do on the farm.
The study is part of a larger one that will see academics interview 200 women in each of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba and follow them up every six months for the next three years.
To limit the study, researchers are asking for volunteers from women who have experienced physical abuse from an intimate partner since January 2000, and whose last incident of violence was at least three months ago.
All interviews will be confidential and participants’ names will not be permanently recorded.
“Every effort will be made to ensure the safety and anonymity of those women who agree to participate,” the study recruitment poster says.
Psychology professor Mary Hampton, who is also involved in the study, said after the initial interview with a woman about her situation, they will be looking at her present health and parenting experiences, rather than asking about their past.
They said the problem in getting rural women into their study is that the target group hasn’t heard about the study. It has been mainly publicized through the abused family shelters in the province.
Kubik said the first results of the study are expected to be analyzed this fall. She hopes the study will pinpoint what services are needed for abused rural women and how policy makers and the shelters can focus on them.
Women who want to be part of the study can e-mail healingj@uregina.ca or phone Kubik at 306-585-4668 or Hampton at 306-337-2629.
