Reviews
This welcomed 2nd edition Making Sense of a Global Pandemic: Relationship Violence & Working Together Towards a Violence Free is a must read for anyone seeking to understand the complexities that surround the topic of relationship violence and the help-seeking behaviours of survivors. This edition of the book is a critical guide to navigating the realities facing survivors and service providers and helps further identify the barriers and gaps that remain prevalent.
The participatory action research and the collaborative groundbreaking work of NEVR is at the core of this creation of well-positioned and informed non-biased evidence from both the academic perspective and the community engagement lens. Editors and authors Dr. Balbir Gurm and Dr. Jennifer Marchbank, along with the rest of the contributing authors, provide clear and concise writing and strong organization of the material. Most importantly, the relevance of community service provision information and research has been kept central in the book throughout, so that readers may benefit from the in-depth analysis and conceptualization of relationship violence in a practical way.
The critical positioning of relationship violence as a public health issue juxtaposed against the insufficiency of public funding and resources is well articulated and provides much-needed perspective in recognizing the subject within a bigger context, its applicability and the dire need to inform service providers and policy makers in the Canadian and global communities.
The reframing of the term relationship violence within its present context provides a valuable definition that is inclusive of all types of abuse. The positioning and centrality of relationship violence as a pandemic honours the experiences of all survivors and their situations. The efforts of the authors to keep the practical, health-focused and service-driven lens will be much appreciated by readers in their journey to comprehend the impacts of relationship violence and the public health issue it presents worldwide.
Despite the vast and intensive nature of the subject matter, the authors’ clear grasp of the marginalities and vulnerabilities that influence gender-based violence and relationship violence is shared in a highly accessible way, empowering readers to put what they have read and learned into practice. The repetition of key information across several chapters reinforces the complexity of the subject. The book acknowledges the inability to address all information and knowledge relative to relationship violence and, in so doing, provides a glimpse of the pervasive and complex nature of the subject. The book makes an excellent attempt at providing a detailed, solutions-based focus on preventive and interventive work.
It is important to note that the collaborative and inclusive efforts that went into this book are very visible and need to be applauded. The inclusivity and acknowledgement of this diverse group of authors and their expertise offers the opportunity to not shy away from intersectional and complex situations. Their recognition of the challenges facing survivors of relationship violence and its intricacies of multiple and highly complex situations is central to approaching cultural safety when considering the supports and resources survivors need.
In sum, the second edition is a brilliant piece of work that provides a critical analysis informed by practical, direct service and academic knowledge. Where it falls short is having the solution to eliminate relationship violence, which remains a global pandemic. This is a must-read book that delves into the deep and dark subject of the pervasive relationship violence that continues to subject survivors to all types of abuse and violence across all diverse intersectionalities. The authors’ collective knowledge and experience around relational violence is apparent and makes for a timely piece of work that speaks to a public health issue of global proportions that only continues to worsen.
Dr. Harjit Kaur
Executive Director, Vancouver and Lower Mainland Multicultural Family Support Services Society
I have approached the reading of this book as a survivor of relationship violence. My evaluation of its value is based on certain questions: Does the book provide a comprehensive understanding of relationship violence? Does it recognize the challenges survivors face in accessing help? Does it provide ideas and tools to community support providers and organizations and others working in the field for how they may help survivors?
After reading this book, I can say in a word, yes. I went through the book with a fine-toothed comb because as a survivor I am looking to see if anything is missing when it comes to an understanding of relationship violence and the response to it, for example, at the community level and in terms of educating the public. This is the first book that I’ve read that covers everything my heart desires. I think everything is there that needs to be.
Those who have contributed to the formation of this book recognize the complexity of relationship violence, and furthermore, recognize the comprehensive, multifaceted, needs-based response that is required to help survivors so that they may recover, heal, and rebuild their lives. They also recognize that in addition to intervention, prevention is key and that educating and changing attitudes about relationship violence within our communities and society as a whole is essential.
What I appreciate about this book is that it is based on multiple “ways of knowing” and that the information provided here is built on, for example, empirical, emancipatory, aesthetic, and personal knowledge and experience. Too often in the past, survivors’ voices have been overshadowed by others telling them that their perspectives are less valid or not valid at all. This book clearly contains the voices of survivors in its content; their voices and their concerns are heard, included, and responded to here. Furthermore, this book recognizes the diversity of our survivor voices. Voices that have often been ignored in previous discussions about relationship violence are present here as evidenced through chapters that directly respond to survivors who identify, for example, as LGBTQ2SAI+, indigenous, immigrant, refugee, or male. Balbir Gurm and colleagues, in creating this book, recognize the often unique cultural, social, and personal challenges survivors face.
Survivors face a multitude of challenges in accessing help in their communities; often assistance is presented to them in a fragmentary, incoherent, and partitioned way, which can lead survivors to feel unsupported, vulnerable, and unsafe. The writers of this book recognize that relationship violence is a highly complex problem that requires a comprehensive response through a multi-agency, multi-sectoral, and multi-level effort, that is, in a multi-faceted and intersectional way, whether it is toward building a support network to help survivors through a crisis phase once they leave their abuser, addressing inequities in the legal system that require governmental or legal reforms, or changing social attitudes toward relationship violence in our communities. Balbir Gurm and colleagues, through this book, and by use of a socio-environmental framework, demonstrate how the collective and collaborative efforts of service providers and community organizations can be framed in a way that provides a coordinated and cohesive community support system that will meet the needs of relationship abuse survivors through a continuum of services and supports. Therefore, this book is a useful learning tool for outlining the ways community supporters can advocate for and help the survivor through an integrative community response. As a survivor, I find this reassuring.
The book’s strength lies in the diversity of knowledge that it brings together and in how that information is presented. A reader can access information through clearly laid out chapters and sections, and within each chapter, also click on various salient supplementary links to, for example, news articles, personal testimonies, research studies, illustrative graphs, statistics, videos, slide presentations, and tool kits. It is structured in a way that a reader can see the interconnectedness of the issues, or they can go directly to the chapter that provides information they need on a specific problem or issue. Thus, a reader can view the information from different angles, depending on need. It is written in a clear and cohesive way that makes it accessible, navigable, and readable.
The creators of this book acknowledge the necessity of evaluating and re-evaluating “what works” in intervention and prevention. One of the things I appreciate about this book is that it is created as a “living book;” that is, it allows for additional information to be added to the existing information already provided. The benefit of this is that as new information for understanding relationship violence and dealing with relationship violence comes to light, this can be applied to strengthen resources and responses for helping survivors.
As a survivor of relationship violence, I wholeheartedly, and gratefully, recommend this book. This is the first book that I’ve read that covers everything my heart desires. I think everything is there that needs to be. I rest easy.
Andrea Alexon
Andrea, unfortunately is not with us, she departed from this earth. To honour her voice, we have left in the thorough review she did for the first edition as a survivor of relationship violence.
Andrea, we miss you dearly. We hope you are extremely happy somewhere in the universe!
Approaching this book, Making Sense of a Global Pandemic: Relationship Violence & Working Together Towards a Violence Free Society 2nd Edition, as an impact-focused researcher from the United Kingdom, I was interested to see the potential global reach of this work. The intersectional and borderless nature of relationship violence means it is, inevitably, not specific to just one country. While there are chapters dedicated to exploring and unpacking relationship violence, and related legislation and policy, specifically in Canada, this living handbook nonetheless has implications and learnings for the global conversation on relationship violence. As an international reader, it was particularly interesting to learn about the scope of the issue in Canada; actions and prevention of relationship violence; why survivors don’t report; and how to navigate the system and get help in Canada. However, I feel the book’s strength lies in its recognition of the diversity of this problem. This is evidenced through chapters which directly address relationship violence against children, older adults, men, indigenous populations, immigrant and refugee communities and in LGBQT2SIA+ relationships. The inclusivity displayed in this approach demonstrates the commitment of Balbir Gurm, Glaucia Salgado, Jennifer Marchbank and all the other contributors to the anti-violence movement as a whole.
Its very nature as a living handbook allows it to adapt and respond to the dynamic expansion and discussion of the subject. As a result, the text offers a broad, yet comprehensive, dialogue on the subject which is crucially accessible to all, whether a survivor, a practitioner, or an academic such as myself. I particularly found that the structure of this multi-purpose text supports its accessibility and wide reach. The chapters are written and set out in a way which creates a cohesive feel, yet readers are able to dip in and out of specific chapters as they see fit. In this way, each chapter offer a distinct contribution to the volume, and I appreciate the learning objectives and key messages set out at the start of each chapter, which are especially useful in guiding the reader to sections they might find most interesting.
As a handbook which is grounded in extensive research, it appropriately recognises the multifaceted complex nature of relationship violence, its intersectionality and the whole systems, needs-based approach which is required in order to tackle this. This is a global problem which requires a global response, and I see this book as a meaningful, dynamic contribution to that conversation. A persuasive and valuable work on the subject, it is a reflection of NEVR’s commitment to eliminating violence in relationships in our community.
Dr Rebecca Shaw
University of Leeds, U.K.
In Making Sense of a Global Pandemic, Dr. Balbir Gurm and her colleagues address relationship violence (RV) as a serious public health issue, offering a resource that blends empirical research, community knowledge, and survivor perspectives. As an Executive Director of Surrey Women’s Centre, what I find most valuable in the book is the clearly articulated lens on intersectionality and community response. It reflects the complex realities of the survivors we serve and underscores the necessity of an informed multi-sectoral approach to end gender-based violence.
This comprehensive second edition provides a roadmap for practitioners, advocates, educators, and policymakers to better understand and counter relationship violence in various settings—from within intimate partnerships to workplaces and educational institutions. The thoughtful structure of this book enables readers to either engage with specific chapters relevant to their work or explore the complete framework that NEVR (Network to Eliminate Violence in Relationships) has created. The community action model central to this work is particularly compelling, illustrating the power of collaborative, culturally responsive practices to improve outcomes for survivors. NEVR’s commitment to evidence-based practices and continuous learning is a strong reminder that sustainable change requires both knowledge and adaptability.
This book also successfully explored lesser-discussed topics regarding relationship violence, such as violence within LGBTQ2SIA+ and immigrant communities, as well as among men. In its entirety, Making Sense of a Global Pandemic exemplifies that relationship violence is a highly complex issue that has the power to touch us all in one way or another. Focusing on such underserved topics helps to dismantle stereotypes, which emphasize a nuanced understanding that is essential for those in service provision. The inclusion of structural violence highlights that relationship violence is reinforced by systemic inequalities, a perspective that aligns closely with the values guiding our work at Surrey Women’s Centre.
In a field where it can be easy to feel isolated in the enormity of the task, Making Sense of a Global Pandemic is both a guide and a reminder that together, across sectors, we can contribute to a violence-free society. This book is a critical addition for anyone committed to eradicating relationship violence and supporting survivors in meaningful, informed, and intersectional ways.
Shahnaz Rahman
Executive Director, Surrey Women’s Centre
