Human Interest Story

One in three women are beaten or raped in their lifetime; that’s one billion women (United Nations). Some would say that is a pandemic. In Canada alone, more than 3000 women (along with 2500 children) are living in an emergency shelter to escape domestic violence. Each year, over 427,000 women over the age of 15 reported they have been sexually assaulted. Since only about 10% of all sexual assaults are reported to the police, the actual number is much higher. You might be wondering what kind of people are trying to prevent these women from becoming statistics and who work with them after they do become one of those statistics. Cheryl Nowshadi, a child and youth counselor, is one of these people. At any given time on her case load, she could be working with a seven year old boy who has watched his mother be beaten by his father, a sixteen year old girl who is in foster care because it is no longer safe for her to be at home, or a ten year old girl who talks about suicide because of the violence and trauma she has experienced. These stories and many more make these statistics all too real, each one has a face, has a story, and is much more than a number to this counselor. Mrs. Nowshadi is a child and youth counselor at the Cowichan Women Against Violence Society in Duncan, British Columbia. This agency is a non-profit organization that works with women and children who have experienced violence and/or abuse. She has an undergraduate degree of a Bachelor of Arts and a post graduate degree of a Masters of Counseling Psychology. These degrees, combined with life experience, make her very good at her job. You may be wondering what makes a person want to choose this career path. For Mrs. Nowshadi, it was simple; she has always been interested in helping people. She had always liked working with children and wanted to be able to help them when they were experiencing trouble. When it came to working with people who have experienced violence, she knew it was what she was meant to do. Having experienced violence herself, she knew first-hand how much of a difference it made to get counseling from people who were trained in that area. Being a counselor involves not only helping victims, but it also involves preventing violence and more victims. Mrs. Nowshadi has previously volunteered as a rape crisis counselor and at a suicide crisis line. This type of work can save lives.
Mrs. Nowshadi also does violence prevention work in local schools, focusing on healthy relationship groups, which she co-facilitates with another colleague. Education young women and men about healthy relationships, how to spot unhealthy ones, educating and having conversations about systemic violence are important ways she helps the community. Teenage girls are most likely to experience violence between ages 16 and 24 and educating them about healthier relationships assists them in avoiding them in their adult relationships. Her Agency’s work with like-minded organizations focus on education around violence against women and prevention work.
Mrs. Nowshadi strongly feels that providing a positive place for children and youth to discuss and explore their feelings, especially around the areas of trauma and abuse, can assist them as they get older. The children learn that it is okay to talk about feelings, that an adult believes them when they share their experiences about violence and abuse in their families, and that seeking help is a sign of strength and courage. She has been doing this particular job for three and a half years, and now has children who ask to come back when they are older, because they remember that positive experience.
These days the word feminist often has negative connotations but in speaking with Mrs. Nowshadi you come to realize it is really about equality, for men and women. She is passionate about her work and loves working with children, and especially teenagers. When talking about the young clients that she works with, she says “they are filled with passion, a strong sense of justice and have an incredible capacity for transformation.” She believes strongly that unless and until women have equal rights and opportunities violence against women and children will continue. Mrs. Nowshadi has found that not everyone is comfortable with the nature of her job and often has to endure negative views of feminism and working with victims of violence. One of her favourite quotes is from the movie, “Iron Jawed Angels” about the women suffragettes in the early 1900’s in the United States, the quote is, “courage is often mistaken for insanity in women”. She finds this quote inspiring because it reminds her that these women were considered crazy for wanting the vote and were imprisoned and vilified. She hopes one day the actions of women and men today fighting for ending violence will be as inspiring to the next generation.