Government of Canada funds YWCA Canada and ten other organizations to prevent and address gender-based violence in Ontario

Press Release

October 31, 2023

Gender-based violence (GBV) costs women and gender-diverse people their lives and has profound effects on our communities. Understanding and addressing gender-based violence is a crucial step to advancing gender equality in Canada.

Today, the Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth announced more than $5.5 million for YWCA Canada and ten other organizations to prevent and address gender-based violence in Ontario and across the country. This week, Minister Ien also met with Aline Nizigama, CEO of YWCA Canada to discuss shared national priorities and objectives to combat GBV.

The following organizations will implement and test a variety of approaches to ending gender-based violence. Their approaches include programs, services, strategies or policies that are rooted in successful practices.

YWCA Canada
Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres (OCRCC)
Muskoka Parry Sound Sexual Assault Services
Mission Services of Hamilton
Child Witness Centre
YWCA Kitchener Waterloo
Luke’s Place
Restorations Second Stage Homes
Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)
Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology (CCWESTT)

This announcement also includes a community-based research project led by Equality Insights Lab. This research will focus on the risk of gender-based violence among Muslim newcomers, immigrant and refugee communities.

These projects will collect data on the lived experiences of victims and survivors to better inform the supports, services and pathways to safety for those experiencing gender-based violence. Populations who are most at-risk of gender-based violence or underserved when experiencing it, include Indigenous women and girls, Black and racialized women, immigrant and refugee women, 2SLGBTQI+ people; women, girls and gender diverse people with disabilities, and women living in Northern, rural, and remote communities.

Today’s announcement builds on the announcement of the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence announced by the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers responsible for the Status of Women in November 2022. It includes five pillars: support for victims, survivors, and their families; prevention; a responsive justice system; implementing Indigenous-led approaches; and social infrastructure and an enabling environment.

Quotes

“Gender-based violence is a human rights violation that is still deeply rooted in our society. The projects announced today will seek to better understand the root causes and systemic factors of gender-based violence, while taking a deeper look at at-risk populations. Informed by community-based research and promising practices, these organizations and initiatives will chart a path toward building safer communities across Canada.”

The Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth

Quick facts

Funding for the Call for Proposals to Address Gender-based Violence Through Promising Practices and Community-Based Research is part of the investments over five years that the Government of Canada provided through Budget 2021 for Women and Gender Equality Canada to enhance its Gender-based Violence Program. Approximately $56 million is committed to supporting projects that strengthen the gender-based violence sector through promising practices and knowledge building.
Building on these investments, Budget 2022 committed $539.3 million over five years to support provinces and territories in their efforts to implement the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence.
In 2018, 44% of women in Canada—or about 6.2 million women—reported experiencing some form of intimate partner violence in their lifetime.
Despite comprising only 5% of the female population in Canada, 21% of all gender-related homicide victims between 2011 and 2021 were Indigenous women and girls.
In 2018, 30% of women reported having been sexually assaulted at least once since age 15, a rate almost four times higher than that for men.

Associated links

Contacts

Nanki Singh
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth
819-665-2632
Nanki.Singh@fegc-wage.gc.ca

Media Relations
Women and Gender Equality Canada
819-420-6530
FEGC.Media.WAGE@fegc-wage.gc.ca

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