The tone and theoretical groundwork for the conference was in many ways set by the keynote address, which was given by H.B. Danesh, a Canadian psychiatrist who offered to participants a new paradigm for family wellness: the concept of the unity-based family.
In his talk, and in a paper presented to the symposium, Dr. Danesh observed that the family "has always been and continues to be the most suitable milieu in which the next generations of children grow and form their views about themselves, the world, and the purpose and meaning of life."
In the past, most families could be defined as "power-based" families, said Dr. Danesh, who recently moved to Switzerland to take a position as director of the Institute for International Education and Development in Wienacht. "The power model demands conformity and obedience," he said, saying that traditionally the father has been the source of that authority.
More recently, and especially in the West, he continued, a rebellion against this model has led to the indulgence-based family, where there is no authority and all is permissible. "In this family type, the individual comes to believe that the most important thing in life is to get what you desire," he said. "This leads to promiscuity of thought and emotions."
In today's interdependent world, these family types are failing, both as successful family units themselves and as crucibles for the creation of the next generation, he said. The alternative is a new type of family.
"The family of the future is a unity-based family," said Dr. Danesh, who is a Bahá'í, explaining that such a family is based on equality between men and women, and conditions of justice for all its members. Such families would be marked by cooperation, maturity and unselfish love. "And a unity-based family by its very nature is violence-free."
Following Dr. Danesh were presentations by Dr. Nahid Toubia, a Sudanese specialist on population and women's reproductive health, who spoke about "Cultural Determinants of Family Violence;" Ms. Alda Facio, director of the Women, Gender and Justice program at the Latin American Crime Prevention Institute in Costa Rica, who talked about "Socio-economic Determinants of Family Violence;" and Ms. Hlengiwe Mkhize, director of the Children and Violence Project at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, who addressed "The Impact of Civil and Political Strife on Family Violence."
In further categorizing the types and nature of family violence, these addresses sought to ready participants for small-group strategy session where they could begin to consider solutions. From those groups arose the key conclusions, as identified above.
For many, that process itself was of critical importance.
"What clearly emerged was the importance of looking at the topic not just in a sectorial manner," said Ms. Mkhize of South Africa. "Usually, psychologists will just talk about trauma, lawyers will talk about human rights, and so forth. But here the conclusions emerged from different disciplines and perspectives. And in this there is a new way to look at the phenomenon -- an integrated and interdisciplinary way."
Although some of the conclusions have been put forward previously by various specialists or organizations, participants said they could not recall a gathering where such a broad consensus on these ideas, emanating from such a diverse group, had been reached.
"It's not necessarily new that family violence should not be considered just a private affair, but what is new is the idea that there is such a strong relationship between violence in society and violence in the families -- and that therefore it is not just a concern for people concerned about family, but that it should be a concern of the entire society," said Janet Nelson, chief of the NGO liaison section at UNICEF.
Marsha Sfeir, the coordinator of public education and training for Education Wife Assault--Canada, also saw significance in the many interdisciplinary links forged at the symposium.
"In terms of institutional violence, the violence that is political and economic and cultural and religious, and that people addressed all of these forms of violence in relation to personal and family violence, frequently in these kinds of events that doesn't happen," said Sfeir, who also acted as facilitator for the Symposium.
"Another thing that doesn't always get addressed is that family
violence has deep roots in cultural and religious gender bias. But
that kept coming up over and over at this conference," Sfeir
said.