In 2008, the United Nations made 2 priority recommendations to Canada based on failure to comply with its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). In particular, Canada was asked to take action on two critical issues: women's poverty and inadequate social assistance rates; and, police and government failure to prevent or promptly and thoroughly investigate violence against Aboriginal women and girls. Canada had not replied by 2010, when the FAFIA report was written. The report gives an in-depth look at how poverty and inadquate social assistance impacts on violence against women and on the failures of policy and other government actors to take seriously the high incidence of missing Aboriginal women and girls.
This report identifies a strategy for implementing the Neighbours, Friends and Family (NFF) campaign with a focus on women with disabilities and Deaf women. Based on focus groups with women who identified as having disabilities, the report shows the factors that affect women's experiences of abuse and ability to get support, and identifies a what can be done to overcome barriers. The strategy emphasizes the importance of using an intersectional lens to ensure services, supports, and public education reach all women with disabilities and Deaf women.
In 2011, OAITH was signatory along with feminist acadmics and community advocates to a ltter to the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario. The letter urges the Commission to follow four key concerns in their review process:
- Gendered Equity Perspective
- Strong Evidence-Based Analysis
- Poverty Reduction
- Attention to Implementation and Access Issues at the Ground Level
In this analysis of the impacts of the Progressive Conservative government's budget cuts and policy initiatives on women and their children, OAITH raises several key points, including that the scope of core services for abused women has become too narrow, access to legal aid and other essential supports for women in the criminal and family justice systems has been significanlty reduced, supports and benefits like social assistance, housing and child care are even lower than prior inadequate levels, and programs and advances in training, anti-racims and anti-discrimination work, pay equity and other positive changes will suffer under the cuts. Women's access to shelters and the full range of services they need from them will be severely limited.
This report is from Phase 3 of a larger multi-phase system-change initiative of YWCA Canada launched in 2001 Beyond Shelter Walls. This phase focused on dialogue among key stakeholders at the national, provincial/territorial and community levels to identify concrete workable solutions towards real and lasting change. The report describes the emerging themes from these consultations, looking at key themes, starting with issues impacting women beyond shelter such as poverty, housing, legal issues, northern communities, and marginalized women.The main body of the report examines supports for women beyond shelters, including advocacy, training and prevention initiatives, promising practices in custody and access, healthy families, and mental health protocols. Recommendations for long term change are included based on the findings.