The 2011 Action Plan for addressing sexual violence in Ontario is built on the success of the introduction of the Domestic Violence Action Plan in 2004. The Action Plan takes a coordinated and collaborative approach to prevent sexual violence and improve supports for survivors. Working across Ministries and with organizations in the VAW sector, the plan proposes to deliver education campaigns, training, and enhance service system response. This Action Plan was superceded by the 2015 Sexual Violence and Harrasment Plan: It's Never Okay: An Action Plan to Stop Sexual Violence and Harassment.
This interim report of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women was introduced to the House of Commons on March 25, 2011 (40th Parliament, 3rd Session) to respond to the motion in March 2010 to undertake a Studuy on Violence Against Aboriginal Women. Between April 2010 and February 2011, the Committee heard from over 150 witnesses across Canada, including national Aboriginal orgaqnizations, goverment departments, and other stakeholders. The Commitee conducted fact-finding visits to Aboriginal and urban communities in eastern and central Canada, and spoke with local organizations and service providers in these areas.The Committee was struck not only by the violence itself, but also the silence within this violence is allowed to continue. The Committee is committed to breaking the cycle of violence and plans to have recommendations in its final report.
Submitted by the Hon. Hedy Fry, MP, and Chair of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women.
This briefing looks a tthe effectiviness of the Act in terms of how well inequality if named and defined to cover all marginalized populations in Canada, and challenges the difference between prohibiting discrimination and affirming equality. The complaint procedures are also examined, identifying the challenges caused by long delays, weak investigative powers, and representation of claimants. The brief also analyzes the difference between individual and systemic discrmination, and takes issue with the failure to include immigrant and refugee women as protected under the Act.
Submitted by: Action traveil des femmes, La Table feministe de concertation provinciale de l'Ontario, and the National Association of Women and the Law.
This toolkit was developed to support a more coordinated and effective community response to older women abuse. Gaps in services stemming from perception of what abuse is and what services elders can access create concerns that need to be addressed. There are some promising practices, but few tools with direct input by older women who have experienced abuse and the gaps in service systems. Few tools provide resources for service providers and older women to use while working together. This toolkit aims to bridge those gaps by providing an innovative and relevant compliation of ideas and tools that can be used to support an effective and empowering response to older women abuse.
Breaking Free, Breaking Through: an arts-based research project to examine violence against Aboriginal women follows up on a 1989 report called Breaking Free: A Proposal for Change to Aboriginal Family Violence, which was the first report to highlight the prevalence and kinds of violence faced by Indigenous women in Ontario. The 2015 report sought to understand if Indigenous women would identify particular starategies or concrete moments which led them to break away from family violence. Instead, the findings were that there is a spirit of resilience among Indigenous women. The report highlights the strength of Indigenous women and the important roles they have in their families and communities. The findings also stress the importance of creating spaces were Indigenous women can build relationships, practice their culture(s) and share experiences. Breaking away from violence does not happen at specific moements, but is rather a pattern than shifts and changes shape, and resilience reflects relationships to others: people, things, cultures, communities, and histories.
The resarch was designed by the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC) and the Ontario Native Women's Association (ONWA).
This report sets out to analyze two distinct conclusions drawn from two different studies showing that there was little to no effect of batterer intervention programs, despite initial studies which suggested that such programs reduced battering. As well as suggesting new methodologies to measure program effectiveness, the authors discuss the possible areas of improvement to intervention programs, including new theoretical foundations, working within a context of borader criminal justice system innovations, measures to reduce drop-out, and adapting different programs to different circumstances and individuals.
A poster from OAITH for Women Abuse Awareness Month (November), citing statistics about the relationships between violence against women and poverty, racialized women, and immigration and refugee status, among other connected issues. Slogan: Achieving Equity for All Women
On August 4, 2010, OAITH wrote a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper regarding Bill C-3, Equality for Aboriginal Women (Bill C-3: An Act to Promote Gender Equity in Indian Registration). OAITH requested that the Prime Minister support the work of Sharon McIvor in her on-going quest to undo the harm done by the Indian Act with the loss of status of generations of First Nations children. Ms. McIvor has spoken before the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs to propose amendments to Bill C-3 that would have remedied all the sex discrimination in the status registration provisions of the Act. Unfortunately, all but one amendment was ruled out of order by the Speaker. In advance of the bill returning for a 3rd returning, OAITH writes to ensure this opportunity is used to address the sex discrimination in the Act. reduction