“Abortion, I'm scared to even talk about it.”: Two decades of systemic violence targeting and silencing women in Prince Edward Island

James'(2003) structural model of violence highlights how the political socio-cultural structures impact upon women's health and well being. The development of a feminist critical consciousness has been strongly implicated in the resources women might use to heal from the effects of violence. Through a concerted heated and rancourous public campaign, women's access to abortion was withdrawn in the late 1980s and remains in effect still today. Women in Prince Edward Island are refused access to abortion services in their provincial hospitals. In order to obtain an abortion, women must have access to substantial resources, both tangible and intangible. This paper will trace the praxis implications of this regressive public policy. This presentation will explore the relevance and long term potential of liberation psychology to make a difference in how victims of this state sanctioned violence heal from the effects. The role of feminist critical consciousness will be explored within the context of a liberation psychology workshop with implications for shifting personal and political horizons so that women's equality can be supported and advanced. Change is explored not only at the personal level, but also at the level of interactions with others and with changing the structural basis for sustaining various forms of violence in our culture.