Government of Canada helps Victim Services of Peel to prevent and address gender-based violence Français

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Women and Gender Equality Canada

Dec 18, 2023, 11:27 ET

BRAMPTON, ON, Dec. 18, 2023 /CNW/ - Gender-based violence (GBV) has profound impacts on women and gender-diverse people including costing them their lives. GBV also has serious impacts on our communities. Those at highest risk live in rural and remote areas, are Indigenous women, Black women, women with disabilities, women of colour, gender non-binary and 2SLGBTQI+ people. Preventing and addressing gender-based violence is a crucial step to advancing gender equality in Canada. 

Today, Shafqat Ali, Member of Parliament for Brampton Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, announced over $586,000 to Victim Services of Peel for their project This Way Out, a promising practice to prevent and address gender-based violence.

Supporting the development, implementation and evaluation of promising practices lays a solid foundation for others working in the GBV sector by promoting evidence-based solutions.

This funding will help Victim Services of Peel work with Peel Regional Police to develop and put in place the HALT (Helping Alliances with Law Enforcement and Trafficking) model, an integrated approach that will allow them to collaborate on human trafficking investigations and immediate on-scene response to strengthen the GBV sector. The project will address the need to provide real-time support to human trafficking victims at the time of a police response. 

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 

"Human trafficking exploits women and girls and is a serious issue in Canada and around the world. Victims, survivors, and the frontline agencies that serve them, continue to face challenges, which is why I'm so proud of the Government of Canada's financial contribution to the This Way Out project, aimed at preventing and addressing gender-based violence in collaboration with Victim Services of Peel and Peel Regional Police. Gender-based violence is one of the most widespread, deadly and deeply rooted human rights violations of our time, and we will continue to address this serious issue."

Shafqat Ali, Member of Parliament for Brampton Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth 

"On behalf of Victim Services of Peel and the tens of thousands of victims we help each year, I would like to express our deepest gratitude to Women and Gender Equality Canada for their investment in systems innovation and promising practices to address gender-based violence in Peel Region. This Way Out project is an integrated approach to increase multi-sector collaboration, making it easier for human trafficking victims to access supports by decreasing barriers and journey their way to becoming survivors. This project will save hundreds of lives in Peel Region and lay the groundwork for systemic change in other regions across Canada."

Sarah Rogers, Executive Director, Victim Services of Peel

Quick facts 

  • Approximately $56 million was invested through the Call for Proposals to Address GBV through Promising Practices and Community-Based Research. This is part of an investment over five years that the Government of Canada provided through Budget 2021 to enhance the Gender-based Violence Program.
  • 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, including $162 million for the province of Ontario.
  • In 2018, 44% of women in Canada—or about 6.2 million women—reported experiencing some form of intimate partner violence in their lifetime.
  • 67% of LGB+ women who had ever been in an intimate partner relationship had experienced at least one type of intimate partner violence since the age of 15.
  • 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.

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SOURCE Women and Gender Equality Canada

Nanki Singh, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, 819-665-2632, [email protected] ; Media Relations, Women and Gender Equality Canada, 819-420-6530, [email protected]

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Women and Gender Equality Canada