Government of Canada announces funding to prevent and address gender-based violence in Montréal

MONTRÉAL, Sept. 6, 2024 /CNW/ – Gender-based violence (GBV) has a profound cost on women, gender-diverse people, and communities across Canada. Understanding gender-based violence is a crucial step towards preventing the long-lasting negative health, social and economic consequences.

Today, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Member of Parliament for Laurier—Sainte-Marie, on behalf of the Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, announced up to $2.3 million for six organizations based in Montréal to prevent and address gender-based violence.

This funding will help organizations better understand, prevent and address the root causes and systemic forms of gender-based violence. Supporting these organizations will help them expand the scope and effectiveness of their efforts and will be another step towards a violence-free Montréal, Québec and Canada.

The following organizations will be receiving funding to develop, put in place, and evaluate promising practices to strengthen the gender-based violence sector:

$495,000 for L’Anonyme U.I.M.for their project Gap
$433,000 for Les 3 sex*for their project Cyberheroes: Gender-based cyber violence prevention program

The following organizations will be receiving funding to conduct community-based research to help address the needs of those who are at risk of gender-based violence or are underserved when they experience it. This includes Black or racialized women; immigrant, refugee and newcomer women; women living with disabilities; Indigenous women; and/or 2SLGBTQI+ communities:

$357,000 for DisAbled Women’s Network of Canadafor their project Addressing the Systemic Nature of Gender-Based Violence and ‘Rooting Change’ across the Peer Support Continuum
$372,000 for GRIS-Montrealfor their project School Staff Perspectives and Interventions on Cisheterosexist Gender-Based Violence in Quebec Secondary Schools
Up to $391,000 for Stella, Maimie’s friendfor their project Intervention by and for sex workers: methodology, practices, and future work
$184,000 for University of Quebec in Montrealfor their project Sexual Consent and Gender Stereotypes Among Quebec Youth

Today’s announcement builds on the progress of the 2022 National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence. The National Action Plan is a strategic framework for addressing GBV that was endorsed by the Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Forum of Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women. The National Action Plan has five pillars that focus on collaborative inter-governmental work supporting victims, survivors, and their families; preventing gender-based violence; ensuring a responsive justice system; implementing Indigenous-led approaches; ensuring a strong social infrastructure and enabling environment to end gender-based violence; and laying a foundation that focuses on data, research, and knowledge mobilization.

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Quotes

“Gender-based violence is a human rights violation that is tragically pervasive in our society. Supported by the federal government, the work these six organizations are doing to understand and address its root causes will advance the safety of women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ individuals, and help end violence and create safer communities in Québec and across the country.”
The Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth

“The Government of Canada is committed to supporting the development of promising practices and research projects that prevent and address gender-based violence. I am proud to support this work in Montréal, where advocates and researchers are working hard to keep women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ individuals safe and thriving. These projects will strengthen our understanding of gender-based violence and better support at-risk and underserved groups.”
The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Member of Parliament for Laurier—Sainte-Marie

Quick facts

In 2018, 44% of women in Canada—or about 6.2 million women—reported experiencing some form of intimate partner violence in their lifetime.
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.
More than 6 in 10 (61%) women aged 15 to 24 who lived in Canadian provinces had experienced unwanted sexual behaviours in a public place in 2018.
Funding for the Call for Proposals to Address Gender-based Violence Through Promising Practices and Community-Based Research is part of the investments over five years that the Government of Canada provided through Budget 2021 for Women and Gender Equality Canada to enhance its Gender-based Violence Program. Approximately $56 million will support projects that strengthen the gender-based violence sector through promising practices and knowledge building.
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.