Ottawa is providing $20 million in funding for a new federal strategy aimed at addressing and preventing gender-based violence.
Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef, Minister of Status of Women, made the announcement at the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre on Wednesday morning. It’s part of a call for concepts for the new Gender-Based Violence Program – a continuation of “It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence” launched in June 2017.
Utilizing input from gender-based violence (GBV) survivors, experts and support organizations, the new program is geared towards “underserved” survivors of sexual violence, Monsef said.
Monsef says the funding will support organizations working in the GBV sector to support survivors and their families. Funding will also help develop new practices to address gaps in support for Indigenous women, the LGBTQ2 community, gender-non-binary people, non-status/refugee/immigrant women, seniors, women living in an official language minority community, women living in northern, rural and remote communities and women living with a disability.
“Canadians mandated our government to develop and implement a gender-based violence strategy. We achieved this,” stated Monsef.
“Canadians have asked us to support the organizations who work tirelessly to provide healing for survivors and their families. We are doing this.”
Organizations can submit applications for funding online at women.gc.ca. The deadline is March 1, 2018. Groups can receive up to $30,000 for project proposal and possibly receive funding for up to five years.
“These organizations have now asked us to invest in their sustainability by reforming the way we make funding accessible to them. With this new call for concepts approach, I am proud to say that we have,” said Monsef.
Sony Vellenga, executive director of the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre, welcomes the new federal strategy.
“The Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre has worked closely with Status of Women Canada in the past and we keenly understand the link between violence against women and the subsequent impact on all aspects of their life, whether it be as a partner, a parent, a provider, or a participant in the civic life of our community,” said Vellenga.
“We welcome brave and bold solutions in order to make relevant changes for Canadian women and in particular for women who experience violence because of who they are and where they live.”
The Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity also praises the new funding opportunity.
“LGBTQ2+ victims of intimate partner violence crimes have often been under-resourced and ignored by the criminal justice system,” said director Jeremy Dias.
“This new call for concepts for projects to support survivors and their families will help to ensure that their voices are no longer silenced and that meaningful solutions and prevention strategies are developed.”
Quick facts:
- Transgender people are nearly twice as likely as cisgender women to experience intimate partner violence in their lifetimes.
- Women living with physical and/or cognitive impairments are two to three times more likely to experience violence than women living without such impairments.
- Indigenous women experienced violence at a rate 2.7 times higher than that reported by non-Indigenous women.
- Senior women are 24 per cent more likely than senior men to face family violence.