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by Michale Lang
I recently visited the Calgary Police Service Interpretive Centre
to see their new exhibit on Domestic Abuse and Family Violence. I
could not, however, limit my visit to just one exhibit because this
highly interactive Interpretive Centre always draws me to try
everything and causes me to be late for my subsequent appointments.
My experience in the new exhibit began in an ordinary kitchen.
The details of this simple room tell terrifying stories of violence
and abuse. I first noticed that the apparently ordinary wallpaper
had names inscribed within the pattern. It took me only seconds to
realize that these were the names and ages of people who had been
killed as a result of domestic abuse:
It also took me only seconds to understand that domestic abuse
crosses all economic, cultural and age boundaries.
 "The whole thing started with a bad day" begins the
circular text on the throw rug in front of the sink - what a way
to bring home the cycle of abuse! Flowers on the table with a note,
"Sorry Honey, it won't happen again." Turn the handle on
the door and hear the argument that is certainly emotional and could
easily escalate to physical abuse. But it's
not all hopeless. This audio track ends with a couple working out
their differences peacefully and just outside the door, a pathway
leads to help, an office where anyone can go for information on how
to stop the violence. The exhibit also profiles victims and abusers
and reinforces, "Abuse is wrong in any language." It leads
visitors to examine their own attitudes and misconceptions as well
as providing startling factual information such as: "19th
Century British courts punished abusive husbands only when wives had
sustained permanent injury" and "Canada only made wife
assault illegal in 1965."
The exhibit effectively incorporates computer interactives,
puzzles and questioning. It takes difficult and painful subject
matter and leads the visitor to a deeper understanding of a problem
that is much more prevalent in our society and in our city than most
of us would like to acknowledge. But it also provides hope and shows
us that there is a way out, as do many of the other exhibits in the
Interpretive Centre.
After leaving the newest exhibit in the Centre, I decided to
return to some of my old favorites. My 20th century,
politically correct sensibility is always shocked by the 1889
attitudes toward natives presented in one of the exhibits. An early
jail cell which, during its time, had been compared to the Bastille,
is another exhibit that challenges, educates, provokes and
entertains.
Although the artifacts from early Calgary policing fascinate me,
I am most drawn to the exhibits on contemporary and often
controversial issues. The exhibit on prostitution is disturbing in
its honesty. It was from this exhibit that I learned the average age
of entry into prostitution is thirteen and a half years old and that
64% of Alberta female prostitutes are 15 or younger. Actual letters
in the childish handwriting of a young prostitute who died on the
streets, put a human face to a problem most of us are able to
ignore. A new section on male prostitution will soon be added.
A theme that runs through many of the exhibits is that life on
the streets is a dead end. One exhibit literally leads the visitor
to a dead end where one can read a tragic and all-too-real suicide
note while a young voice also reads it aloud. The note documents
this 16-year-old's path to suicide in 1987.
Although it deals with difficult and very serious subject matter,
I want to stress that the Calgary Police Service Interpretive Centre
is not all doom and gloom. I had a lot of fun at a computer terminal
where I was able to make decisions while interacting with police on
video. I chose "Crime in Progress" and it was a real
challenge! Because these interactive exhibits are so popular, three
new computer terminals are being added. I also got to sit on a real
police motorcycle and in a real police car and I even got to turn on
the flashing blue and red lights. There were crimes to solve and
lots of stuff to look at. I was able to take my own fingerprints as
well as being able to look at exhibits of early fingerprint and
facial reconstruction kits. It was awesome (to borrow a phrase I
overheard from a young visitor)! Many activities at the Centre
engage at least two of the senses, which means that people will
likely learn more effectively from them.
As a museum professional, I feel that the Calgary Police Service
Interpretive Centre does what museums should be doing. The exhibits
challenge and provoke visitors to think about events that are
occurring in our own city every day. It is not easy to look at the
darker side of our community, but this museum does it well. Through
educating its visitors about difficult issues that we may otherwise
ignore, the Centre truly fulfils the ICOM definition of a museum by
contributing to society and its development. The new exhibit on
domestic violence opened officially on May 12, 1999.
Family Abuse Facts
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The common expression 'rule of thumb' comes from early
British Common Law which ruled that a man could beat his wife as
long as the rod used was not wider than his thumb.
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In 1984 it was made illegal for a man to sexually assault his
wife.
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One in five children in any given school classroom is either
abused or sees one of their parents abusing the other.
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Of adults who are abusive to their partner or children about
80% were abused or witnessed abuse as a child.
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Abuse occurs to males and females of all ages, in all types of
communities and within all of socio-economic levels and
cultures.
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Child abuse is placing in danger the well-being of children
which includes harming them physically, emotionally, mentally or
sexually.
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The handicapped are at greater risk of abuse because they can
be easily cut off from relatives and friends. Neglect of a
victim's needs such as meals, medication and assistance with
dressing and cleanliness are forms of abuse experienced by the
handicapped.
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Women of diverse cultures may remain in abusive relationships
because of threats by their partners to have them deported, to
leave the country with the children, or simply because it is
difficult for women whose ability to speak English is poor to
know how to seek help within the community.
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While physical abuse by females does occur, husband abuse is
more likely to be psychological (mental/emotional).
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It was not until the end of the nineteenth century that
legislation made wife assault illegal in Britain and much of the
United States. Canada only made wife assault illegal in 1965.
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