Academic Research Associates

Laura Béres, M.S.W., R.S.W., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor School of Social Work King's University College at the University of Western Ontario 519 433 3491 ex 4575 lberes2@uwo.ca

Laura is a social worker and assistant professor in the School of Social Work at King's University College .

She worked in direct practice in the Toronto are for fourteen years, working with children who had witnessed violence, adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse and men who had been abusive.

Her doctoral research involved narrative therapy and research practices, working with women who had experienced abuse in co-constructing their stories and deconstructing their engagement with popular discourses that romanticize abuse.

Before moving to London to take up a position teaching she had begun using narrative therapy approaches in groups with men who had been abusive in intimate relationships. She is currently researching these groups in more detail analyzing transcripts of group sessions to examine how these approaches may be useful.

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Claire V. Crooks, Ph.D., C.Psych.

Associate Director, CAMH Centre for Prevention Science Assistant Professor, Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children at the University of Western Ontario ccrooks@uwo.ca

Dr. Crooks is the Associate Director of the CAMH Centre for Prevention Science and an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children at the University of Western Ontario . Her research involves the development and evaluation of the Fourth R , a relationship-based curriculum aimed at preventing violence and related risk behaviours in adolescents. She is particularly interested in gender strategic programming that meets the unique needs of girls and boys with respect to violence prevention. A national dissemination project is also underway, as well as efforts to adapt the program for use with aboriginal youth. Dr. Crooks is also co-director of a Trillium-funded project investigating sustainability of school-based violence prevention strategies.

Dr. Crooks is a co-developer of the Caring Dads program, a parenting intervention for men who have maltreated (or are at-risk to maltreat) their children. She co-wrote the Caring Dads manual, and has facilitated several of the pilot groups at the London site. Dr. Crooks is Faculty member of the US National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and frequently conducts training in the areas of domestic violence, child maltreatment, and custody and access. She is co-author of numerous articles and chapters on topics including children's exposure to domestic violence, child custody and access, adolescent dating violence and risk behaviour, and intervening with fathers who maltreat their children. She is also co-author of Adolescent Risk Behaviors: Why teens experiment and strategies to keep them safe (Yale University Press, 2006).

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Walter S. DeKeseredy, Ph.D

Professor Criminology, Justice and Policy Studies University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT)

Dr. Walter S. DeKeseredy is Professor of Criminology, Justice and Policy Studies at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). He has published 12 books and over 70 scientific journal articles on a variety of topics, including woman abuse in intimate relationships and crime in public housing. He also jointly received (with Martin D. Schwartz) the 2004 Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Society of Criminology’s (ASC) Division on Women and Crime and the 2007 inaugural UOIT Research Excellence Award. In 1995, he received the Critical Criminologist of the Year Award from the ASC’s Division on Critical Criminology (DCC).

The Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma (IVAT) gave Walter DeKeseredy the Linda Saltzman Memorial Intimate Partner Violence Researcher Award (not to be confused with DWC’s own Saltzman award) at their 13th International Conference in San Diego on September 16th.

This award is dedicated to the memory of Linda Saltzman, who dedicated her life to ending intimate partner violence through research. The award encourages continued research in this field by recognizing either new or established researchers who have made substantial contributions to the field of intimate partner violence.

IVAT’s conference is an interdisciplinary gathering of people from public health to counselling to criminologists. Many attendees work in violence prevention, research, education and services attend and receive continuing education credits there. It is especially nice to see people like child custody evaluators, counsellors and others who have a real impact of survivors’ lives being exposed to the critical work of woman abuse researchers.

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Molly Dragiewicz, Ph.D

Molly Dragiewicz is Assistant Professor of Criminology, Justice and Policy Studies at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Ontario, Canada. Her research interests focus on the anti-feminist fathers' rights movement, domestic violence and child custody, and violence and gender.

Recent publications include:

(2008) Teaching about human trafficking: Opportunities and challenges for critical engagement. Feminist Teacher, 18(3), 185-201.

(2008) Patriarchy reasserted: Fathers' rights and anti-VAWA Activism. Feminist Criminology, 3(2), 121-144; DeKeseredy, W. and M. Dragiewicz.

(2007) Understanding the complexities of feminist perspectives on woman abuse: A commentary on Donald G. Dutton's Rethinking domestic violence. Violence Against Women, 13(8), 874-884.

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Gail Hutchinson, Ph.D

Director Student Development Centre University of Western Ontario

Gail Hutchinson is a founding member of the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children.  She was part of the original Board of Directors of CREVAWC and now has membership on the Advisory Board.  Most recently Gail has been involved with a research committee investigating interpersonal conflicts and exposure to abuse and violence and the impact these experiences have on the emotional, social and academic life of university and college students.  A research paper entitled, Negative social experiences, is in press with the Canadian Journal of Higher Education.

At Western Gail has served for over 20 years as Director of Student Development Centre and as a psychologist in the Psychological Services area. SDC offers a wide range of services and programs designed to assist graduate and undergraduate students in making the most of their university experience by providing support, skill-development, advocacy and counselling.  SDC is composed of International Student Services, The International Student Centre, The International Exchange Program, Indigenous Services, The Indigenous Services Learning Resource Centre, Learning Skills Services, The Learning Help Centre, Psychological Services, The LGBT Support Program, Services for Students with Disabilities, The Adaptive Computing Technology Centre, The Learning Opportunities Lab, The Volunteers in Progress Program and The Writing Support Centre.  In addition SDC has a highly-respected internship and practicum program that has been in place for close to 40 years.  Gail along with other members of Psychological Services hold adjunct faculty positions in Psychology and the Faculty of Education in recognition of the training and supervision provided to graduate students.

Gail continues to find her involvement on the Advisory Committee of CREVAWC to be invaluable to her role as a university administrator, counselling centre director and psychologist. In addition, staff at Student Development Services have greatly benefited from CREVAWC’s research, publications and educational forums.  

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Holly Johnson, Ph.D

Associate Professor Criminology Department University of Ottawa

Holly Johnson is Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Ottawa. Her interest and involvement in research on violence against women spans two decades. She was principal investigator of Statistics Canada’s first national survey on violence against women which pioneered a methodology for interviewing women about their experiences of sexual assault and intimate partner violence. This methodology has served as a model for the development of similar surveys in many countries, including the International Violence Against Women Survey on which she is a collaborator. Dr Johnson is author of numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, books and government statistical reports on this topic. She served as expert advisor to the Secretary-General’s report on violence against women, and is a member of the UNECE Task Force on Violence Against Women Surveys, the UN Expert Group on Indicators on Violence Against Women, the World Health Organization expert panel on primary prevention of sexual violence and intimate partner violence. She is also co-investigator of the Canadian Observatory on the Justice System’s Response to Intimate Partner Violence (PI C. Gill, University of New Brunswick) and collaborator with the Canadian Prevention Science Cluster for Children and Youth (PI D. Wolfe, University of Western Ontario).

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Beverly D. Leipert, PhD, RN

In July, 2003, a new position, Chair in Rural Women's Health Research, was created at the University of Western Ontario. This Chair position is located in the Faculty of Health Sciences and cross appointed to the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, and is supported with 2 million dollars from the University of Western Ontario and the Ontario Women's Health Council.

As the only position in Canada and in North America that is dedicated to rural women's health research, the purposes and activities of the Chair in Rural Women's Health Research position are significant and ambitious. Because so little is known about rural women's health, the primary purpose of the Chair position is to establish and support enhanced knowledge and research that advance understanding about rural women's health. This will be accomplished in several ways. The Chair will conduct leading rural women's health research and will support student and faculty scholarship in rural women's health. Opportunities will be developed through the Chair's office to support the conduct and dissemination of rural women's health research. The ultimate goals of the Chair position are to raise the profile of rural women's health, conduct research and support the advancement of knowledge about rural women's health, facilitate systemic change to improve rural women's health, and give rural women a voice.

Dr. Beverly D. Leipert brings significant personal and professional expertise to this position. She grew up on a grain and cattle farm in Saskatchewan and practiced as a public health nurse for 10 years in rural and remote Saskatchewan. After completing a Master of Science in Nursing degree at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Leipert joined the University of Northern BC as an assistant professor. Dr. Leipert's program of research focussed on investigating northern women's health and northern community health nursing practice. Dr. Leipert completed her PhD in Nursing degree from the University of Alberta in 2002. Her doctoral research used a feminist qualitative methodology to examine how women stay healthy in northern geographically isolated settings. Dr. Leipert has published several articles, books, and other documents that address the health of women in rural and remote settings, and she has presented at many national and international conferences.

Since her arrival in July, 2003, Dr. Leipert has been familiarizing herself with University and community resources and needs in the London area. She has also travelled extensively throughout southwestern Ontario to meet rural women and hear about their health issues. Dr. Leipert is very interested in collaborative research opportunities with faculty, students, and community members who are interested in rural women's health. If you would like to contact Dr. Leipert, she can be reached by telephone at 661-2111 Extension 86599, by email at bleipert@uwo.ca, or at her office in Room H029 in the Health Sciences Addition.

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Alan Leschied, Ph.D. C. Psych.

Alan is a psychologist and professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Western Ontario. He began working in children’s mental health in 1977 at the London Family Court Clinic. Since then, he has worked at the Clinic with the exception of from 1980 – 82 when he worked at the Children’s Hospital of Western Ontario. He joined the faculty at Western in 1998.

Alan has served on numerous children’s services Board’s of Directors, including the Children’s Aid Society of London and Middlesex, The Coordinating Committee for Children and Youth, and The Canadian Council on Social Development. He currently co-chairs the Board of Directors for London’s Investing in Children. He is a founding member of the International Prisons and Corrections Association, serves on the research advisory committee of the Sparrow Lake Alliance and, from 1993 to 1998 was the Canadian Psychology Association’s representative to the Health Care Advisory for Correctional Services Canada.

Alan’s research interests have been in areas related to children’s legislation and how policies promote the welfare of children and families. He has produced numerous publications in areas related to young offender assessment, treatment and rehabilitation. Of note have been the edited books, The Young Offenders Act: A Revolution in Canadian Juvenile Justice (1991); Offender Rehabilitation in Practice: Implementing and Evaluating Effective Programs (2001), and Research and Treatment for Aggression with Adolescent Girls (2002). Alan has provided presentation in many parts of Canada and the United States. Internationally he has recently traveled to the Netherlands, Argentina and Japan representing Canadian perspectives on youth justice. Alan has appeared as an expert witness in youth courts and in coroner’s inquests on matters related to youth justice in the provinces of Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick.

Currently, Alan’s research interests have included the completion of the clinical trial with Multisystemic Therapy, funded by the National Crime Prevention Centre and the examination of factors related to increases in the demand for child welfare services in London and Middlesex. He chairs the graduate program in Counselling Psychology at Western’s Faculty of Education. Alan is a Fellow of the Canadian Psychology Association, and a recipient in 2003 of both the Edward G. Pleva Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Judge Wendy Robson Award for outstanding service to children. in Ontario.

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Robin Mason, Ph.D.

Women's College Research Institute 416-351-3732 ext, 2764 robin.mason@wchospital.ca

Robin A. Mason is a community-based researcher interested in intimate partner violence (IPV) in minority cultural communities, as well as training and educating health care professionals about these issues. She is currently a Research Scientist with the Violence and Health Research Program at the Women's College Research Institute and an Assistant Professor with the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto . Robin is co-chair of an Expert Panel charged with developing curricula on IPV for Emergency Department staff across the province (funded by the Ontario Women's Directorate) and also manages the REACH program (Research, Education and Action to Create Health and hope for survivors of violence) at Women's College Hospital.

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Susan Rodger, Ph.D. C. Psych.

Susan is a psychologist and professor at the Faculty of Education, the University of Western Ontario. She received her BA in Philosophy and Fine Art from Wilfrid Laurier University in 1979, and her PhD in psychology from the University of Western Ontario in 2001. Before joining the Faculty of Education in 2002, she was the Coordinator of First Year Programs at Western. In 1998 she created an award-winning academic mentoring and leadership development program for university students. She has presented workshops for educators in B.C., Ontario and Saskatchewan on this work and continues to focus her research activities, in different contexts, on academic success.  Her main research interests include student success, teacher effectiveness, student anxiety, child welfare and violence.

Over the past 2 years Susan has worked on research projects with a focus on literacy, academic achievement and school retention for women who experience violence and who do not have a high school diploma. This work continues to develop. She is also currently involved in a wide range of other projects including research examining rural youth and their access to health information using an online environment, a meta-analysis project examining developmental criminology and adult offending, and child welfare.

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Dora Tam, BSW, MSW, RSW, Ph.D

School of Social Work King’s University College University of Western Ontario dmytam@uwo.ca 519-433-3491 x4516

Dora Tam is an Assistant Professor with the School of Social Work in King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario, an Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton University and a Research Associate with the Centre for Social Work Education and Research in the Department of Government at Sun Yat-sen University in China. Dora’s program of research involves violence against women issues, cross-cultural practice and social work education, specifically professional suitability for social work practice. She has strong experience in multi-site collaborative projects. Dora was the Principal Investigator and worked together with seven other Canadian and Chinese researchers have recently completed an international research project titled “Collaborative Health Initiatives to Prevent and Intervene in Violence Against Women in China,” which was funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research between 2007 - 2009. This project used a participatory approach and aimed at identifying and developing health initiatives to prevent and intervene in violence against women in China.

Moreover, Dora has a sound record in conducting both quantitative and qualitative research, publishing actively in international journals, and presenting at international and national conferences. She was involved in a study on Chinese Youth in the Criminal Justice System in Canada funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and three studies on professional suitability in social work practice in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan in 2003 and 2007 respectively.

Dora is a registered social worker in Ontario and has practiced in the field of family services, probation, and health care settings in Canada and Hong Kong. As a social work educator, Dora strongly believes that social work programs should prepare graduates to become evidence-based practitioners. To achieve such commitment, Dora has actively involved in a number of research projects, which provide training opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students in terms of planning, implementation, analysis, and dissemination. Apart from research, Dora has served a number of community organizations or working groups as a way to keep the pulse of clients’ needs and the changing social context.

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Paul F. Tremblay, Ph.D.

I completed my Ph.D. in 1998 at the University of Western Ontario in the Psychology Department. My training was mainly in the area of quantitative methods and personality theory and research. The main focus of my doctoral research was on dimensions of academic motivation. After my graduate studies I worked three years in applied settings developing psychometric tests. I am currently working as a scientist in the Social, Prevention and Health Policy Research Department of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. I also teach a personality course at the University of Western Ontario and supervise a number of undergraduate students in the Psychology Honours program.

In addition to my collaborations with colleagues at the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children to examine experiences of harassment by students in university and college, I have developed a research program in the area of human aggression. My current research focuses on (1) the assessment of aggressive dispositions (2) the interaction between aggressive dispositions, social factors, and alcohol (3) the development of a taxonomy of provoking situations across various domains such as driving, work, and intimate relationships. Of particular interest to me are individual differences in hostile attribution bias, social factors that impact on provoking situations, the incentives and deterrents associated with retaliation, and the intention of the instigator. My second area of interest is in quantitative methods, especially in the applications of structural equation modelling and methods to investigate person by situation interactions.

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Leslie Tutty, Ph.D

Professor, Faculty of Social Work Academic Research Coordinator RESOLVE Alberta University of Calgary 403-220-5040 tutty@ucalgary.ca

Dr. Leslie Tutty is a full professor with the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary where she teaches courses in both clinical social work methods and research. Over the past nineteen years, her research has focused on services for family violence including a number of evaluations of shelter and post-shelter programs for abused women, support groups for abused women, treatment for adult and child victims of sexual abuse and groups for men who abuse their partners. Since 1999, Leslie has served as the Academic Research Co-ordinator of RESOLVE Alberta , a tri-provincial research institute on family violence. RESOLVE is one of Canada 's centres of excellence in research on violence against women and children. As such, Leslie has collaborated with a number of the leading researchers in family violence across the country. Her extensive body of research on domestic violence spans the perspectives of social services, justice, health and mental health and addresses prevention, intervention and policy.

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Christine Wekerle, Ph.D

Joint Appointments: Education and Psychology, University of Western Ontario. Cross Appointments: Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario. Scientific Advisor: Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies

My research and clinical interests are in the effect of childhood maltreatment across the lifespan. With David Wolfe, I have contributed a dating violence prevention program for at-risk teens, called The Youth Relationships Project. With Anne-Marie Wall, I have edited a book examining violence and addiction overlap. With my co-investigators, Harriet MacMillan, Nico Trocme, Anne-Marie Wall, Mike Boyle, and Eman Leung, we have embarked on an epidemiological study of youth actively involved in child protective services. The networking within child maltreatment to the benefit of networking in the practices of child welfare is also a strong interest and current need in Canada.

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David A. Wolfe, Ph.D., ABPP*

RBC Chair in Children’s Mental Health, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Western Ontario

Dr. David Wolfe is a psychologist and author specializing in issues affecting children and youth. He holds the inaugural RBC Chair in Children’s Mental Health at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), where he is Head of the Centre for Prevention Science located in London. He is a Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Toronto, and Editor-in-Chief of Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal. His recent book is entitled Adolescent Risk Behaviors: Why teens experiment and strategies to keep them safe (with P. Jaffe & C. Crooks; Yale University Press, 2006).

Dr. Wolfe has broad research and clinical interests in abnormal child and adolescent psychology, with a special focus on child abuse, domestic violence, and developmental psychopathology.  He has authored numerous articles on these topics, especially in relationship to the impact of early childhood trauma on later development in childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. Dr. Wolfe has been pioneering new approaches to preventing many societal youth problems such as bullying, relationship violence, and substance abuse. David recently received the Donald O. Hebb Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology as a Science from the Canadian Psychological Association, and the Blanche L. Ittleson Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Delivery of Childrens Services and the Promotion of Childrens Mental Health from the American Orthopsychiatric Association.

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Community Research Associates

Mohammed Baobaid, M.A. (Criminal Science and Forensic Psychology), Ph.D. (Psychology and Criminology)

Mohammed's doctorate in Psychology and Criminology from the Erlangen-Nuremburg University , examined family socialization and juvenile delinquency in Yemen . During this time, Mohammad earned the Friedrich-Ebert Stifiung Scholarship award. Prior to acquiring his doctorate in 1997, Mohammad obtained an M.A in Criminal Science and Forensic Psychology which focused on the characteristics of juvenile psycho-sociological growth in Yemen.

Mohammed has extensive experience working with young offenders and coordinated relevant programs that centered around the protection, prevention, and early intervention of delinquent youth. Dr. Baobaid was the head of the Department of Women Studies for Empirical Research and Women Studies at the University of Sanaa, Yemen. At the University of Sanaa he lectured to both undergraduate and graduate students in the areas of criminal, forensic, and family psychology. In 1999 Dr. Baobaid established and is currently the Chair of The Centre for Youth Research and Development in Yemen.

In recent years, Mohammad has worked as an Integration Counselor at Success Resources London at the Thames Valley District School Board. Currently, he works as a men's counselor at Changing Ways in London Ontario and is the Coordinator for the Muslim Family Safety Project. Mohamed was awarded a grant to investigate access to woman abuse services by Muslim women in London Ontario and is an active board member of the Children's Aid Society.

Along with organizing and facilitating a diverse range of community presentations on culture, violence against women, juvenile delinquency, and human rights, Dr. Baobaid has published a wide range of articles including women in conflict with the law , children in conflict with the law , the attitudes of police toward violence against women , and the causes and prevalence of suicide .

Mohammad's expertise is further extricated by his fluency in English, Arabic and German.

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Mandy Bonisteel

Mandy Bonisteel has worked as an anti-violence advocate, consultant and therapist for over 20 years.  She has worked with both survivors and perpetrators of violence.  Her international work includes: trauma support and community development training with women in Kosovo; NGO capacity building and Family Medicine Nursing curriculum development in Bosnia and Herzegovina; trianing and curriculum recommendations for nurses and social workers in Namibia involed in anti-violence work; consultancy regarding governmental reform (CEDAW) implementation in Azerbaijan and; participatory gender research presentations at the Association for Women in Development in Mexico.  This paper "Measuring Empowerment - The Application of an Empowerment Model to Nursing Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina" is available here.

In Ontario, she authored the Ontario CAS/VAW Collaborative Curriculum for workers supporting children who have witnessed women abuse, developed the Respect-At-Work training materials for CRVAW and delivers curriculum design training to educators.  Mandy coordinates the Assulted Women's and Children's Counsellor/Advocate Program at George Brown College, a unique combination of feminist counselling and social justice courses that combine the skills of support and activism needed to advocate for women, their children, and their communities. Mandy teaches on-line as well as in the classroom and has considerable experience working in diverse environments as well as with diverse learning communities with varying needs. Mandy is a recipient of the Ontario Medal of Citizenship.

Mandy's paper, titled "Shrinking Feminist Space", is available here.

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Jacquie Carr

Jacquie Carr is a proponent for social, legal, economic and political equality for all persons and to that end engages in her work. Jacquie brings the focus and wisdom gained during her 7 years of diverse experience in her roles as advocate, researcher, educator, and facilitator to the field of sexual harassment prevention.

Jacquie is a certified trainer for the Respect at Work training approach and contributed to the development of the package. In addition to being a certified Respect at Work training facilitator, Jacquie delivers specialized presentations providing in-depth examination of workplace sexual harassment with a particular focus on corporate cost, human cost, and internal and external reporting and remedy avenues. Jacquie has earned a reputation for delivering powerful and engaging workshops. Her presentations have been described as insightful, informative and extremely relevant.

Jacquie has experienced the privilege of sharing the work of valuable projects in the arena of sexual harassment including serving as a member of the coordinating committee and presenter for an innovative, cross sectoral conference, contributor to a video and accompanying discussion guide, promotion of same.

One of Jacquie’s most recent accomplishments as a research team member is the publication of “Workplace Harassment and Violence”, a participatory action research report identifying the range of women’s experience of harassment and violence in the workplace and the resulting harm.

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Pamela Cross

Pamela Cross is a feminist lawyer who works as a consultant in the area of women’s equality and violence against women. In the past, she has held the following positions:

YWCA Canada, Director of Advocacy and Public Policy
National Association of Women and the Law, Executive Director
Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children, Legal Director
Ontario Women’s Justice Network, Legal Director

Pamela is a frequent and well respected media commentator and conference speaker on violence against women and women’s equality. She is a member of Ontario’s Domestic Violence Advisory Committee and of the Management Committee of the Family Law Education for Women Project.

Her recent written work on the issue of violence against women includes:

• “Through the Looking Glass: The Experiences of Unrepresented Abused Women in Family Court,” Luke’s Place, Durham, Ontario 2008
• “Muslim and Canadian Family Laws: A comparative primer,” Canadian Council of Muslim Women, 2006.
• “Should different kinds of people living in the same province be governed by different kinds of laws?” Women Living Under Muslim Laws Dossier 27, 2005
• A review of the Domestic Violence Protocol, Frontenac County, 2006
• Legal writing on Ontario Women’s Justice Network (www.owjn.org)

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Cathy Hird, B.S.W., M.S.W., B. Ed.

Cathy Hird is an educator with the London District Catholic School Board and has over twenty years of experience in violence prevention. Prior to entering the teaching profession, Cathy was a certified social worker with experience in the fields of child welfare, children’s mental health, and school social work. Since 1989, she has been actively involved in developing and implementing school-based violence prevention programs. Consultations are provided to school communities for training staff in violence awareness and evaluating violence prevention initiatives and plans. She is a recipient of two community awards for her contributions to violence prevention: The Francis Brennan Award (London Family Court Clinic) and Crime Stoppers Award (London and District Crime Stoppers Program).
Her current teaching assignment as a secondary teacher involves working with students with learning differences and at-risk youth. She engages actively in facilitating peer-support learning through the introduction of peer tutoring, peer mediation and peer helping. She serves as a Board of Director for two community agencies: St. Leonard’s Community Services - London Region and the Children’s Aid Society of London and Middlesex. Her connections with the Faculty of Education at Althouse College includes being a mentor for teachers enrolled in Additional Qualifications courses and participating in the Transition to Practice seminars for new teachers.
Her involvement with the Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children has included advisory roles on research projects and accessing research grants to evaluate the forms of interpersonal violence experienced by youth. Her current involvement in the Tools for Change project has allowed her to continue her area of interest in curriculum writing and evaluating violence prevention programs for use by educators in elementary and secondary schools.

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Janet Izumi's focus of research while at the Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children was on Sexual Harassment and the Girl Child. This was part of a national project funded by Status of Women Canada. Janet is a Registered Nurse with a degree from McGill University. She is also a Certified Canadian Counsellor with a Master of Education degree from the University of Western Ontario.

Work experience has included: Nurse Teacher at Hamilton Civic Hospitals School of Nursing, Staff Development at London Psychiatric Hospital, Programme Assistant Health Sciences at Fanshawe College Continuing Education Division, Staff Nurse at Student Health Services at the University of Western Ontario, Facilitator of Marriage Preparation Workshops at Westminster College, Public Education Co-ordinator at Sexual Assault Centre London, Counsellor at Family Service London and currently Programme Manager in Family Health Services at the Middlesex London Health Unit.

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Tim Kelly, B.A.

388 Dundas Street, Suite 302b London , Ontario Canada N6B 1V7 (519) 4438-9869x27; Fax: (519) 438-9780 mailto:timkelly@changingways.on.ca

Tim Kelly is the Executive Director of Changing Ways , a program for men who abuse women in London and Middlesex County, Chatham/Kent County and St. Thomas/Elgin County. He has spoken nationally and internationally on issues related to violence against women and children and community collaborations.

His interest has recently turned in two directions, the first is to expanding the scope of community collaboration and has been working on a Provincial initiative, Neighbours, Friends and Families, a project that provides woman abuse information, training and support to neighbourhood, friends and families who live and support abused women. Secondly, his clinical direction has turned to working with maltreating fathers in partnership with the university, the justice system, woman's advocates and children's advocates to develop and implement Caring Dad's: Helping father value their children, an intervention program with fathers who abuse their children or have exposed their children to woman abuse.

He has also worked broadly with many communities both locally and internationally to develop a frame work for community collaboration and coordination with a focus of ending violence against women and children.

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Alfredo Marroquin

Neighbours, Friends and Families Campaign Changing Ways Special Projects Coordinator 388 Dundas Street, Suite 302 London, Ontario N6V 1V7 Email: alfredom@changingways.on.ca Tel: 519-438-9869 ext. 222 Website: www.changingways.on.ca Website: www.neighboursfriendsandfamilies.on.ca

Alfredo is the Special Projects Coordinator at Changing Ways and the Coordinator of the Neighbours, Friends and Families campaign. Through this involvement, Alfredo has been contributing in the province-wide implementation of the Neighbours, Friends and Families Campagin by providing administrative support to the Expert Panel, The Aboriginal Panel of Experts, to the development of local campaigns and delivering trianing across the province.

Alfredo earned his B.A degree in Sociology, and his M.Ed. degree in Counselling Psychology from the University of Western Ontario . He also holds an Ontario Teacher's Certificate. He is presently working on his Ph.D. at the University of Western Ontario

Alfredo has been involved in grass roots politics through his long time voluntary work in labour, educational and community organizations, solidarity committees, and national and international non-governmental organizations focusing on raising awareness about oppression, violence against women and children, diversity, conflict resolution, social justice and international cooperation.

Alfredo is a global educator and a community organizer, who worked as the Director of the London Cross Cultural Learner Centre's Global House, from 1987-2000.

As a long time volunteer for over 18 years with Salv Aide, a non profit organization promoting cooperation, Alfredo has been contributing to raise awareness about El Salvador, promoting community development, and contributing to the establishment of micro-credit programs for women in El Salvador's rural areas.

Alfredo has contributed with research such as the ñGuidelines to work with cultural diversity in the area of violence against womenî, through the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children, the ñNation of Immigrantsî through the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, A Therapeutic Experience for Refugee Youth Who have Experienced or Witnessed Violence in the Context of War .

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Mr. Al J.C. O'Marra, B.A., M.A., LL.B., LL.M.

Deputy Crown Attorney Provincial Operations Centre Ministry of the Attorney General 416-498-0598 al.omarra@ontario.ca

Throughout his career Mr. O'Marra has been involved in dealing with violent crime, anti-violence initiatives and related public safety issues. Currently he serves as the Deputy Crown Attorney of the Provincial Operations Centre of the Ministry of the Attorney General where he manages and supervises all of the major prosecutions instituted under the Guns and Gangs Initiative targeting violence street crime.

Mr. O'Marra was called to the Ontario Bar in 1983. After a number of years in private practice he joined the Crown Attorney system as a prosecutor in the Regional of Peel where he had carriage of a number of cases involving homicide and violent dangerous offenders. Further to his prosecutorial responsibilities, from 1990 to 1993 Mr. O'Marra acted as Counsel to the Lieutenant Governor's Board of Review and the Criminal Code Review Board (now Ontario Review Board) where he dealt with medico/legal forensic issues involving mentally disordered accused during a period of significant change to Mentally Disordered Accused provisions the Criminal Code of Canada.

On returning to the Peel Crown Attorney's Office, as a Senior Crown Counsel Mr. O'Marra prosecuted many high profile homicide cases, as well as acted as Coroner's Counsel in a number of Inquests, most notably the Christopher Stephenson Inquest which inquired extensively into the correctional and mental health systems involved in the management of high risk mentally disordered offenders.

In 1997 Mr. O'Marra was appointed Chief Crown Counsel in the Office of the Chief Coroner where he acted as legal advisor to the Chief Coroner, as well to the 350 physician/coroners in the Province engaged in death investigations. Further, at the direction of the Chief Coroner he conducted Inquests, such as the May/Iles Inquest and Hadley Inquests which enquired extensively into the issues of domestic violence and the criminal justice system, and the O-C Transpo Inquest which examined factors that led to mass homicide in the workplace.

In response to the recommendations arising from inquests that examined issues of domestic violence he helped to establish in 2002 the Domestic Violence Death Review Committee (DVDRC). The first such organization of its kind in Canada , it is a multi-disciplinary group of experts, that has endeavoured to systematically investigate and report annually on all domestic violence homicides that occur in the Ontario . As Chair of the DVDRC from 2002 to 2006 he traveled and spoke extensively about the lessons that have been learned from the case reviews of these tragic deaths.

Mr. O'Marra has been consulted nationally and internationally on criminal justice matters and he has contributed a number of publications on medica/legal issues, and other public safety matters.  He has been called on frequently to present at national educational programs for lawyers, judges, and police officers, law schools and at ocmmunity forums.

Mr. O'Marra has been featured as a commentator and interviewed in the print and the broadcast media on medico-legal matters involving mentally disordered offenders, domestic violence and homicide.  He has appeared on Court TV "Legal Briefs", CBC Newsworld, Global, CTV, and History Channel "Crime Story" and the CBC national radio program "As It Happens".

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Maureen Reid, M.S.W.,R.S.W.

Manager, Children's Aid Society, London and Middlesex, P.O. Box 7010, London, Ont. N5Y 5R8 mreid@caslondon.on.ca

Ms. Maureen Reid has worked in the areas of child protection and child physical and sexual abuse for the past twenty-eight years. Within a child welfare agency, Ms. Reid developed a treatment program for families (child victims, perpetrators and non-implicated parents) where sexual abuse has been verified that includes individual, group and family treatment. This program is in its 20th year and provides therapy to over 100 individuals per week. She has also co-facilitated community based groups for adult male survivors of childhood sexual abuse. She co-facilitates the Caring Dad’s group in partnership with Changing Ways of London. This is a program for fathers who have been physically abusive with their children or are at risk of being physically abusive. She has been the Child Abuse Consultant for the London and Middlesex Children’s Aid Society and is currently Chair of the Child Abuse Prevention Council in London, Ontario. She is past Chair of the Adult Survivors Committee in London, Ontario.

She is an authorized trainer for the Ministry of Families and Children teaching the modules:
Impact of Child Maltreatment; Interviewing Children; Investigating Sexual Offences Against Children and Forensic Interviewing. She has presented at numerous conferences on topics related to sexual abuse within families and other child protection issues, and has been a consultant to the Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System of the Family Court Clinic and the London Custody and Access Project for the past twenty years.

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Deborah Sinclair

Deborah Sinclair is a senior social worker, consultant, trainer, writer and community organizer in independent practice in Toronto , Ontario . She has a clinical practice specializing in work with trauma survivors, their families and their allies.

For the past 28 years, she has been actively involved in addressing the issue of violence against women and their children with professional and grass roots community advocacy groups across Canada . In October 2002, she testified as an expert witness at the inquest into the murder of Gillian Hadley and suicide of Ralph Hadley.

In January 2003, she was appointed to the Domestic Violence Death Review Committee (DVDRC).

Her publications are available from Springtide Resources online at www.womanabuseprevention.com.

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