Brad Johns stepped down as justice minister this week, not because his comments about gender-based violence were stupid at best and dangerous at worst, but officially, “to maintain confidence in government.” What’s most perplexing about this reasoning is that it suggests that when it comes to issues of gender-based violence, there was ever any confidence to begin with.
“I saw the article about him resigning and him saying that he did that because he didn’t want people to lose faith in our current government, but it wasn’t a forced move from the Houston government and that’s disappointing”, said trauma therapist and victim advocate, Kristina Fifield.
While Fifield now works in a private practice, she formerly worked on behalf of Avalon Sexual Assault Centre on a report to the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC), designed to “build our shared understanding of the violence that marginalized survivors experienced from the perpetrator of Nova Scotia’s April 18 and 19 mass casualty events.”
She says it’s hard to match Johns’ punishment with the profound and lasting impact his comments may have made on people currently experiencing gender-based violence or survivors who are still grappling with recovery.
“Violence is so normalized, and it’s so embedded into every part of society, so when we hear our justice minister making those kinds of comments, it’s so harmful for people that are still in unsafe situations,” said Fifield. “They internalize it and they think, ‘well what’s the point in telling anyone? Is my situation bad enough? Will anyone believe me? Will I get hurt even more by reaching out for help?’ ”
All questions that can, and do, prevent victims from leaving violent situations. Johns drove home deeply embedded patriarchal beliefs that keep women in silence, and if what he said is true that gender-based violence is not something he is— “seeing everywhere all the time”—that comes with a heavy dose of privilege. Or complete ignorance.
Unfortunately, this does not seem to be a case of one bad egg.
Let’s talk about Bill 144 tabled by NDP leader Claudia Chender over two years ago that would severely limit the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), banning them entirely in cases of sexual assault. The Conservative party line is that it wants to make a “trauma informed” decision before passing the bill, which makes sense, except that they have not agreed to meet with any victims, survivors or advocacy groups in two years—despite dozens of letters asking for an audience.
Given this reality, it’s difficult to be optimistic as Adams takes office as the new justice minister, while also continuing her role as minister of seniors and long-term care. Like her predecessor, Adams is not a lawyer and has no legal training, but Premier Houson assures us she is passionate, empathetic and determined.
That’s great because the position requires a level of open-mindedness, collaboration and training that has not, as of yet, seemed to be a priority for the tories. Fifield says to look no further than the behaviour of cabinet members in the legislature for proof that creating safe spaces is not necessarily a staple of this government.
Which begs the question: what now?
“What I would like to see from Adams is first and foremost an apology to survivors and victims in our province. I’ve seen that Brad Johns has reached out to the community-based organizations that are doing the work and that’s fine, but I have not seen an apology from our current government that acknowledges the trauma impacts of these comments,” said Fifield.
In a recent interview, Adams said that her first action will be to reach out immediately to advocacy groups that support domestic violence victims. Hopefully that means finally taking a meeting to discuss Bill 144 too.
That said, she has already blocked some of the most vocal gender-based violence advocates from her social media.
It’s not a great start.
The Coast reached out to the minister for comment, but has not received a reply as of publication.
