When the first COVID-19 lockdowns began in Quebec, many domestic violence advocates voiced their concern that these measures would lead to increased incidents of domestic violence throughout the province.
In response to these concerns, Christian Direction launched a new initiative against domestic violence – the Christian Québecois Initiative Against Domestic Violence (CQIADA)/l’initiative québecoise chrétienne contre l’abus domestique (IQCCAD).
Rather than dive into a ministry project, The Christian Direction team, following the advice of the director of a Montréal women’s shelter, sought to first determine a baseline understanding of the issue, particularly how it intersects with the church in Québec. Consequently, the initiative determined to launch a research project which would explore the research question: “What are the experiences of domestic abuse of survivors in the church, and what are the attitudes of laypeople, and leaders in Christian faith communities in Quebec towards this issue?”
The objective of the project is to produce a report that will suggest actionable ways to change the narrative for Christian survivors of domestic violence in Québec, and lead to the development of ministry response(s).
The Rapha Project is a study on experiences of domestic abuse among christians and the response of the church in Quebec. The project is named “Rapha,” which means healing in Hebrew. The goal of this project is to reveal the ways that domestic violence has impacted Christians in Québec and to reveal the experiences of survivors in particular. We are convinced that to reveal is to begin to heal, and we know that our God is Jehovah-Rapha, the God who heals.
“… for I am the Lord who heals you” – Exodus 15:26
Project Values
In developing this research project, our team has been committed to several core values: expertise, academic rigour, ethical oversight, as well as trauma-informed and survivor-centered approaches.
In developing this research project, it was essential that we build a team of local experts to inform the work and assist in creating the research. Our project lead, Jenna Smith, has years of experience in community engagement and network development, and used these skills to create an advisory committee of local experts to inform the project.
Emily Simunic was hired as the coordinator and researcher of the project to ensure that the study is academically rigorous and able to meet the standards expected by university researchers and peer-reviewed publications.
An essential component of academic rigour is acquiring ethical approval and oversight from an ethics board. The first stage of the Rapha project — a survey for churchgoers in Québec — has received ethics approval from the Community Research Ethics Office (CREO), a non-profit which provides ethics oversight for community organizations creating research. For the second phase of the project we will be looking at university ethics boards for approval.
When projects involve vulnerable populations, such as domestic violence survivors, it is vital that all work be trauma-informed and survivor-centered. A trauma-informed approach seeks to minimize harm and reduce the risk of re-traumatization of survivors and victims of domestic abuse who participate in our research.
Christian Direction has a long history in community development and community-led processes and projects. We are very mindful of the importance of agency and voice amongst people who are in situations of vulnerability. It is for this reason that we strive towards a survivor-informed practice, which means that survivors are multi-faceted partners in Rapha Quebec. This includes meaningful input from a diverse community of survivors at all stages of a program or project, including development, implementation, and evaluation.
The Research
The Rapha study is a mixed-methodology project with three stages: a survey of churchgoers, interviews with survivors, and focus groups with church leaders. We are currently in the first stage of our research, which is a survey for churchgoing adults in Québec. The survey is open to all practicing (or formerly practicing) Christians in Québec who are over 18 years old, regardless of their experience with domestic violence.
Survey Objectives
1. Identify the beliefs and attitudes of Québec Christians and churches with regard to domestic abuse.
2. Determine whether domestic violence is a problem currently being experienced within Christian communities and churches in Québec.
3. Understand why victims do or do not disclose their experiences of domestic abuse to other churchgoers or church leaders, and to reveal how the church has responded to such disclosures of domestic abuse.
We invite you to answer the survey online via www.direction.ca/rapha or to email [email protected] to request a paper copy of the survey.
Supporting the Project
There are many other ways to support the Rapha project: share the story of how domestic violence has touched your life, become a project ambassador & encourage your community to respond to the survey, or support us in prayer or financially.
