For Immediate Release
December 16, 2005
$30,000 GRANT SUPPORTS RESEARCH INTO WOMEN'S HEALTH AND THE EFFECTS OF STRESS
WINDSOR – Windsor West MPP Sandra Pupatello announced today that the Ontario Women’s Directorate (OWD) will invest $30,000 in a research project by Dr. Jim Brophy and Dr. Margaret Keith of the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers. The study, in part, will look at the link between the stress associated with domestic violence and the rate of breast cancer in women.
“The more we can learn about domestic violence and how it affects women and their families, the better equipped we will be to fight it,” said Pupatello.
Dr. Brophy and Dr. Keith have been examining a possible link between stress levels and the incidence of breast cancer in rural women. So far, the study has uncovered that approximately 34 per cent of the breast cancer patients who participated cited marital conflict and/or their spouse’s abusive behaviour as major stressors in their lives. Rural women tend to suffer a higher rate of domestic violence than those who live in urban centers.
The OWD is supplying the grant as part of the government’s broader Domestic Violence Action Plan.
“The concern of domestic abuse recently emerged from data collected for our current breast cancer research. The grant from the OWD will allow us to further explore this often hidden issue, particularly among rural women who may face unique barriers to dealing with abuse,” said Dr. Keith.
The study is also funded by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and the Breast Cancer Society of Canada and is being implemented in partnership with the Windsor Regional Cancer Centre, Windsor Regional Hospital, and the University of Windsor.
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For further information, please contact:
Sara Best
(416) 325-5219
