Immigrant Women, Family Violence and Housing Insecurity: Research Challenges Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration Annual Planning Meeting February 10-11, 2006 Lesley Carruthers, MA Dept. of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary Wilfreda Thurston, PhD Professor, Dept. of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary Director, University of Calgary Institute for Gender Research

Program of Research Health as viewed by mid-life immigrant women Gender, socioeconomics and health of immigrant women Immigrant women’s participation in the domestic violence health policy community Annual Report of the Brenda Strafford Centre Women and Fair Income

Research Team Principal Investigator: Wilfreda E. Thurston, Professor; Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary Co-investigators: David Este, Associate Dean, Research and Partnership, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, University of Calgary Liza McCoy, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary Tess Gordey, Executive Director, Brenda Strafford Centre for the Prevention of Family Violence, Calgary Jana Smith, Coordinator, Calgary Coalition on Family Violence, Calgary Margaret Haworth-Brockman, Executive Director, Prairie Women's Health Centre of Excellence, Winnipeg Barbara N. Clow, Faculty of Health Professions, Dalhousie University Christine Saulnier, Senior Research Officer, Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women's Health, Halifax Community Partners: RESOLVE Alberta, Osborne House (Winnipeg), NEEDS Centre for War-Affected Families (Winnipeg), Immigrant Women’s Counselling Services (Winnipeg); Bryony and Adsum Houses (Halifax) Funding provided by Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration and the National Secretariat on Homelessness

Research Questions What are the key structural/systemic and individual causes of persistent and repetitive homelessness of immigrant women experiencing family violence? What are the key indicators of an increased risk of homelessness? What are the key indicators for decreased risk? What are the pathways into and out of homelessness? What are the specific conjunctures where critical interventions are most effective? What existing services are most effective in assisting people exit homelessness, and how can homeless people or those at risk of homelessness access them?

Definitions Homelessness Housing Insecurity Secure Housing

Research Design Qualitative interviews with immigrant women Qualitative interviews with service providers Inventory of employment and education services Quantitative data from second-stage shelter Consultations with key policy makers

General Research Challenges Constraints and timelines of research, especially contract research National research Methodological

Key Research Challenges Ethics –Conflicting interpretations of the Tri-Council Policy Recruitment –Successful in some areas, not in others Community context –Formation of Halifax Advisory Committee

Halifax Advisory Committee Members Community partners Other community stakeholders Government representatives Researchers

Role of Halifax Advisory Committee Recruitment of a site coordinator Recruitment of research participants Revisions to the interview guide throughout the research process Preliminary analysis of research findings Dissemination of research findings Future research directions

Opportunities Enhanced data collection National comparative data analysis Facilitate knowledge transfer Coalition-building Opportunities for advocacy

Balancing Challenges with Opportunities…