By: Lucaiah Smith-Miodownik, News Writer
Across Turtle Island (North America), the FIFA World Cup is well underway. While host cities have prepared for this major event by increasing police presence, two local groups are leading the effort to expand community-based safety services during Vancouver’s football fever. Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) “provides support and advocacy for women who have experienced abuse, as well as community education and training about violence against women” and Good Night Out Vancouver focuses on “building community capacity to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and sexual assault in all sectors, with a focus on hospitality, music, arts, and nightlife.” Together, the organizations are working to prevent gender-based violence during the FIFA World Cup in Vancouver.
In a public service announcement released on June 8, both organizations asked: “What would it look like if safer streets, safer nightlife, and safer homes were all part of the same public safety conversation?” While the City of Vancouver directs focus towards a myriad of safety issues ranging from riots to terrorism threats, BWSS and Good Night Out are taking action to prevent vulnerable populations from falling through the cracks.
In an effort to support, the City informed The Peak, the Vancouver host committee has allocated funding to Good Night Out, as well as other organizations working to end gender-based violence.
As part of its increased service, the BWSS shared they “will temporarily expand its specialized crisis-line services to 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the six-week tournament period” to support those in need, at home or elsewhere. The crisis line will provide reliable “access to information, emotional support, safety planning, risk assessment, crisis intervention, and referrals” for survivors.
Additionally, the BWSS will hand out “FIFA Safety [Cards], a practical resource designed to increase awareness of available supports and provide accessible safety information to individuals who may be experiencing violence, coercive control, stalking, harassment, or other forms of abuse.”
To strengthen public-facing support, Good Night Out, “will have extra outreach teams in the downtown core” throughout June and July. These teams, dressed in peach shirts, are designed to create safer environments for “women, marginalized genders, and anyone feeling like they need support.” The announcement shared that Good Night Out teams will be working “directly within nightlife and hospitality settings” to help create atmospheres of safety. Good Night Out is explicit in that their services will be for “anyone in the public realm, including patrons, workers and people sheltering in the street.”
Regardless of whether it’s the heart of downtown or behind closed doors, the two groups are striving to help create a safe environment for all.
The groups note that “for many survivors, the risks associated with major sporting events are not experienced in stadiums. They are experienced at home.” Studies suggest that there is “a strong correlation between major sporting events and domestic violence.” Both organizations noted that while “sport does not cause violence against women [ . . . ]
“Periods associated with heightened emotional intensity, alcohol consumption, gambling stress, nightlife activity, and social gatherings can intensify existing patterns of coercive control and abuse.”
— Battered Women’s Support Services and Good Night Out Vancouver
A look into Vancouver’s past sporting events illuminates such risks. As reported by City News, BWSS executive director Angela Marie MacDougall explained that during the 2010 Olympic games, the organization received more calls for support.
BWSS and Good Night Out are collectively pushing “for gender safety and violence prevention to be recognized as essential components of public safety planning during major international events.”
As part of this initiative, BWSS also released a short film titled The Space Between, which chronicles the “coercive control and the realities many survivors experience” hidden from the public eye. In the video, they share, “Not all abuse is visible. Too often it is downplayed. Coercive control is abuse. Safety changes everything.”
To access the BWSS crisis support line during the FIFA World Cup, call 1-855-687-1868, open 24/7 until July 19
