One of the greatest hindrances to ending abuse is secrecy. The sexually abused child is often told to keep the secret for fear of repercussions. The battered wife keeps the secret, hiding bruises with lies, long sleeves and sunglasses. It�s hard to help someone when you�re deprived of essential information.
But secrecy is not just a problem in cases of domestic abuse. It�s increasingly becoming a problem in abuse of the law and abuse of communities.
The Freedom of Information and Privacy Act (otherwise known as FIPA) is supposed to protect the privacy of individuals from intrusion and snooping. But sometimes it ends up protecting abusers.
Without shared information you can�t fight crime. If police, health providers, CFS, welfare and housing workers don�t talk to each other, they often have no idea of what�s really going on with a problem in the community.
And it gets worse. While government still has many ways of collecting information about us, we have less and less ability to get information from them � thanks to FIPA.
CFS workers tell us to trust them that they�re doing something to intervene with a troubled family. But they claim FIPA prevents them from telling us what they�re doing or who even they�ve talked to.
Even agencies are using FIPA to shield themselves from accountability regarding statistics and operational practices.
A friend of mine tried to get access to her CFS file. She was told it was protected under FIPA. She ended up getting a lawyer to force CFS to allow her to see her own file. She was shocked. According to the file she was on methadone, and her child was labeled as masochistically depressive. Neither statement was true, but decisions were being made for their family based on incorrect information.
In my line of work, I often meet with people deemed to be dangerous. Sometimes it would be good to know the nature of the danger so I could take basic steps to protect myself.
People who could do something to protect me are forced by FIPA to leave me totally exposed. Some have told me, �Play it real safe and don�t meet with anyone who might be dangerous.� But I can�t do that either. My faith drives me to pursue hope of change in many �dangerous� people.
A local community group asked to be informed of conditions put on prostitutes so we could help inform police if someone was breaching the conditions of their release from custody. �No way,� we were told. �FIPA would never allow that.�
We had an idea about neighbours being notified if a young offender has a curfew. That way, when the youth is outside causing trouble after curfew, someone could call and additional steps could be taken to ensure respect of the law and safety for all concerned. They�ve been convicted in court and have documented conditions on their release. But FIPA and other privacy legislation prevents this type of help. �It�s for their protection,� we�re told. What about our protection?
A sexual offender (not yet labeled �dangerous�) comes to the public swimming pool. Police and others are not allowed to give people a �heads up.� FIPA says �No way.�
Good residents and landlords wanted to establish our own registry of bad tenants. This would provide a list of people who have damaged homes and skipped on rent. FIPA said, �No way.�
When we posted the license plates of �johns� on a website, I was told I had no right to put that information on the internet. I was told I was invading the privacy of �johns.�
People have no reasonable expectation of privacy when they make a public display of horniness. When we caught one guy getting serviced right behind our church and across the street from an elementary school, we figured privacy was the last thing on his mind. When another guy kept following and propositioning an innocent teen, we figured the public had a right to know. We published his plate.
Several people threatened to use �privacy legislation� to prevent us from acknowledging their very public misdeeds.
Abuse of communities, just like abuse of individuals, thrives where people refuse to tell the truth.
In the absence of information, people are becoming more isolated as a means of protecting themselves. This is real bad for those trying to build community.
Rev. Harry Lehotsky
514 Maryland Street
Winnipeg, Mb R3G 1M5
(204) 775-4929
[email protected]