Kristen Sandborn was forgetting basic things: appointments, conversations, the sequence of some events. Her vision was changing drastically and she was avoiding social gatherings. She knew this was most likely because of a head injury that followed another violent attack by her ex-husband. But she was never formally diagnosed: Going to the doctor or reporting the injury to police, she worried, came with the risk of her being found incapable of keeping her children should her partner contest custody. “When you get punched in the head [by your partner], and you have kids, you don’t go to the doctor about ...

  An anti-violence organization says B.C. is taking small steps to better protect women from abusive men. The incremental progress follows meetings earlier this year between women’s protection agencies, police leaders and government officials. “We’re hopeful and grateful for those baby steps. We’ve got a whole lot of baby steps to go,” said Marlene Goley, manager of the Cridge Transition House for Women in Victoria. Dangerous gaps in B.C.’s legal system were highlighted in the media earlier this year by a coalition of anti-violence organizations. They came together following the death of a Saanich woman, Laura Gover, in January. Her ...

A three-dimensional yellow daffodil pops out of a pink and purple canvas painted by Emilie Morris-Campeau, a survivor of brain injury and intimate-partner violence. She’s one of a handful of people with similar experiences who take part in an art-therapy program at the Cridge Centre for the Family. Art pieces by women in the group are currently on display at the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre to shed light on the invisible disability of brain injury, in honour of National AccessAbility Week. Morris-Campeau has been a member of the program for over a year and said it has made a huge ...

Organizations that respond to intimate-partner violence say they’re feeling a renewed sense of hope that changes will be made to B.C.’s justice system to better protect women. Their optimism stems from a recent meeting between service providers, police leaders and provincial politicians, including the attorney general. “It was the first meeting of its kind that’s happened in a very long time, if there even is precedent for it,” said Victoria Women’s Transition House executive director Bahar Dehnadi. The meeting was born out of tragedy, following the death of Laura Gover, a respected business instructor and mother of two. The Saanich woman’s ex-husband ...

Edwin Bergsson’s friend broke down the door of his recording studio in Victoria about five years ago, found him unconscious, and saved his life. “It’s incredible that I’m here today,” Bergsson said in an interview. He had overdosed after taking what he believed was crystal meth. But while he counts himself lucky to have escaped with his life, Bergsson suffered a brain injury caused by lack of oxygen. His Lyrics Studio folded after the overdose and he now works in a café operated by fellow brain injury survivors. Bergsson still struggles with his short-term memory. In fact, he couldn’t remember ...

The Second Chance Cafe aims to help brain injury survivors rebuild their lives and get back into the workforce. The cafe, operated by the Cridge Centre for Family, offers an opportunity for survivors of brain injury to gain some employment readiness skills and get back into the work force in an accommodated and flexible and safe setting. “We know that a lot of time survivors, it’s a challenge to get back into the work force,” Tori Dach, The Cridge Centre for the Family manager of brain injury services, said.   “For some to get back to what they were doing, ...