Government of Canada Takes Action to End Violence against Women and Girls on University and College Campuses

OTTAWA, Nov. 14, 2012 /CNW/ - On behalf of the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women, the Honourable Suzanne Fortin-Duplessis, Senator for Rougemont, today announced funding to the Association chrétienne des jeunes femmes de Montréal (Y des femmes/YWCA Montréal) to engage young people in addressing violence against women on university and college campuses. Parliamentarians throughout Canada joined Minister Ambrose in announcing their projects locally.

"Our Government is taking action to address violence against women on university and college campuses across Canada." said Minister Ambrose. "We are pleased to support projects that will help make university and college communities safer for everyone."

The Government of Canada is providing 21 organizations with close to $4 million to carry out projects that tackle a wide range of issues related to violence against female students, such as sexual assault and harassment. Organizations will work with college and university campus communities to carry out their projects.

"I am proud to be part of a government that acts on its commitment to end violence against women," said Senator Fortin-Duplessis. "With the support of the Government of Canada, the project being announced today will empower young people - women and men - to work together to make our community a safe place to live and learn."

The Association chrétienne des jeunes femmes de Montréal (Y des femmes/YWCA Montréal) is receiving $185,125 in funding for a project, targeting students at three Montréal-based French-language CEGEPs (Marie-Victorin, Rosemont and Vieux-Montréal) to address violence against women on campuse. The Y des femmes/YWCA Montréal will engage all three CEGEP's management teams, professional staff and security personnel, incorporating their input and expertise in finding solutions.

"The YWCA Montréal is pleased to be able to work on the issue of the many different forms of violence that female students might experience on campus, more specifically in colleges (CEGEPs), said Lilia Goldfarb, Director, Leadership Department, YWCA Montréal. Taking a consultative and community approach, the project will involve victims, attackers, witnesses and CEGEP staff; the aim is to put in place policies to ensure the safety of male and female students. The project will also enable us to upgrade our expertise in preventing the continuum of sexist and sexual violence (images, words, actions) victimizing girls and women."

"In a CEGEP with a large majority of women staff and students, it seems very important to us to support a project like this, said Lyne Bisson and Nancy Lemay, teachers, Department of Social Work Techniques, Cégep Marie-Victorin. The YWCA Leadership Department is a reliable, serious and professional partner of the Department of Social Work Techniques and we are fully confident that it will be able to deliver an interesting, useful and engaging project to prevent violence against women on campus."

"In my view, MobiliCampus : Ensemble pour la sécurité des étudiantes [MobiliCampus:  together for the safety of female students] is a valuable project because it works for integrated, coordinated action by the college community and the different players involved, declared Habib El-Hage, social worker, Collège de Rosemont . Further, the YWCA's planned work on preventing violence against female students on campus seems necessary to us and would help to meet a real need of our student clientele. It would give me the opportunity to assess our procedures and strategies and to put in place measures that will enhance the safety of women faced with sexist violence."

The Government of Canada is committed to supporting projects that yield concrete results for women and girls in Canada while strengthening families, communities and the country. Through Status of Women Canada, the government's support for community-based projects has nearly doubled since 2006-2007, from $10.8 million to close to $19 million, its highest level ever. Since 2007, more than $54 million in federal funding has been approved for projects that seek to address violence against women and girls.

---

Backgrounder

---

Organizations receiving funding under the call for proposals - Engaging Young People to Prevent Violence against Women on Post-Secondary Campuses:

Corner Brook Status of Women Council (CBSWC), Corner Brook, NL;
Mount Allison Students' Union, Sackville, NB;
Fredericton Sexual Assault Crisis Centre, Inc. (FSACC), Fredericton NB;
Collectivité ingénieuse de la Péninsule acadienne Inc., Paquetville, NB;
Antigonish Women's Resource Centre and Sexual Assault Services Association, Antigonish, NS;
Association chrétienne des jeunes femmes de Montréal (Y des femmes/YWCA Montréal), Montréal, QC;
La Pointe du jour CALACS Sept-Îles, Sept-Îles, QC;
Interim Place, Mississauga, ON;
Ottawa Coalition to End Violence against Women, Ottawa, ON;
Scarborough Women's Centre, Scarborough, ON;
Sexual Assault Centre of Hamilton and Area (SACHA), McMaster University, Hamilton, ON;
Urban Alliance on Race Relations, Toronto, ON;
Yellow Brick House, Richmond Hill, ON;
Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region, Kitchener, ON;
Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta, Edmonton, AB;
Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton, Edmonton, AB;
University of Alberta, Student's Union, Edmonton, AB;
YWCA Lethbridge and District, Lethbridge, AB;
Alberni Community and Women's Services Society, Port Alberni, BC;
MOSAIC (Multilingual Orientation Service Association for Immigrant Communities), Vancouver, BC;
Royal Roads University Student Association, Victoria, BC; and

These organizations will work with college and/or university campuses in their communities.

SOURCE: Status of Women Canada

Amber Irwin
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Public Works and
Government Services and
Minister for Status of Women
819 997-5421

Nanci-Jean Waugh
Director General, Communications and
Strategic Planning
Status of Women Canada
613 995-7839

Ce texte est également disponible en français.
For news releases and information on Status of Women Canada, go to www.women.gc.ca