What will it take to end gender-based violence in Canada?
Answer: A National Action Plan on Violence Against Women and Gender Based Violence would certainly help.
Women’s Shelters Canada was asked and funded by the department of Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) to develop a strategic engagement with anti-violence leaders across Canada to inform the development of a National Action Plan (NAP) on Violence Against Women (VAW) and Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
Pamela Cross, the Luke’s Place Legal Director, is a co-chair of the “promotion of the responsive legal and justice systems” working group of the strategic engagement team, along with co-chair Deepa Mattoo, Executive Director of the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Centre.
The final report will be submitted to WAGE on April 30, 2021.
Women’s Shelter’s Canada has released an interim report. The working groups have reviewed over 650 recommendations on violence against women given to government over the last decade.
A key finding from the report:
Despite the increasing number of daily headlines about femicide, misogynist attacks, and gender-based assault, abuse, and cyberbullying – plus countless stories unseen, untold – various policies and pieces of legislation undertaken by governments have failed to significantly lower the levels of violence experienced by women, girls, and gender-diverse people in Canada.