Beliefs & Aims

We believe that:

1. All persons have the right to lives free from the presence and threat of violence.

2. Violence against women is a criminal offense; offenders must be held accountable for their violence behaviour and legal institutions must actively contribute to the elimination of violence against women.

3. Violence against women is a social issue and society at large must actively contribute to the elimination of violence against women.

4. We have a responsibility to educate and sensitize ourselves to the many differences amongst us and to provide respectful, nonjudgmental, accessible services to all women and children.

5. Woman have the right and ability to be in control of their lives and to make their own choices, these choices become increasingly more informed as women demand and gain access to information and resources which have traditionally been denied to them.

6. We have a responsibility to respect choices made by women and children.

7. When children witness violence, it is a form of abuse and serves to perpetuate the cycle of violence.

We aim to:

1. Provide safe accessible shelter to women and their children. We are committed to ensuring that our properties and services are physically, geographically, linguistically and financially accessible to all women.

2. Provide all services in a consistent manner and maintain a stable predictable shelter environment.

3. To empower women by:

a. providing service in a woman-centred, individualized manner;
b. providing information in a nonjudgmental manner;
c. providing opportunities for women to exercise choice;
d. respecting women's choices;
e. soliciting and responding to input from clients re: service development and delivery.

4. Recognize the unique and special needs of children who have witnessed domestic violence against women.

5. Acknowledge and take responsibility for our various privileges and prejudices and to provide service in a way that is respectful of the many differences amongst us.

6. Work cooperatively with other agencies, organizations and individuals to demonstrate the relationship between violence against women and other forms of oppression; and to effectively challenge all forms of oppression.

Three Oaks is a member of the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses and as such, we accept the Statement of Principles developed by OAITH.