Government of Canada supports survivors of gender-based violence in Ontario's Wellington County

ORANGEVILLE, ON, April 16, 2019 /CNW/ - Ending gender-based violence is crucial if we are serious about giving everyone the same opportunities to join and grow Canada's middle class. We all benefit when women, girls and people of all genders are safe and free to live their lives to the fullest.

Today, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport and Member of Parliament for Etobicoke North, on behalf of the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister of International Development and Minister for Women and Gender Equality, announced the selection of an organization which will receive federal funding to support survivors of gender-based violence, including people who have been underserved, particularly women who live in rural and remote communities.

Family Transition Place will receive close to $800,000 over five years for their project entitled "Rural Response Program." The project seeks to implement promising practices to support survivors and their families. The organization will work at reducing barriers to access to services for women in rural and remote communities through mobile service delivery and increased partnerships between service providers.

Last year, Minister Monsef announced more than $50 million in funding for nearly 60 projects in communities across the country, including the one announced today, to support survivors of gender-based violence and their families.

Quotes

"With this investment, we are funding organizations like Family Transition Place which provide essential services to support survivors and their families. This funding envelope was developed in partnership with leaders from the women's sector, whose advice continues to inform Canada's first Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence. Leaders asked for more dollars over a longer period of time to meet the ever growing demand for their services, a simplified application process, and resources to help provide supports for the most underserved and marginalized survivors of gender-based violence. Our government listened. Gender-based violence must not be tolerated, and we will continue to work with survivors, community partners, the private sector and other orders of government to end GBV in all of its forms."

The Honourable Maryam Monsef, P.C., M.P.
Minister of International Development and Minister for Women and Gender Equality

"There is no place for gender-based violence in our homes, in our communities or anywhere in Canada. Family Transition Place does great work to ensure women and children can live free from abuse and threat so they can live their lives freely and fulfill their potential, and the Rural Response Program will build on that."

The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Sport and Science
Member of Parliament for Etobicoke North

"Family Transition Place has provided a range of services to support women and their children who have experienced abuse and unhealthy relationships for 35 years. The Government of Canada's investment to our new project will help us implement promising practices to support an even greater number of survivors and their families in rural and remote communities, helping create a healthy community, one relationship at a time."

Norah Kennedy, Executive Director
Family Transition Place

Quick Facts

• In June 2017, the Department for Women and Gender Equality (formerly Status of Women Canada) announced the first-ever federal Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence.
• To date, the Government of Canada has invested over $200 million across government to prevent gender-based violence, support survivors and their families, and create more responsive legal and justice systems.
• The Promising practices to support survivors and their families call for concepts is the largest amount of funding ever announced for programming to specifically support diverse groups of gender-based violence survivors and their families.
• Some populations are more likely to experience violence and may face unique barriers and challenges that put them at particular risk (Statistics Canada, 2015).
• Gender-based violence can have lifelong impacts on an individual's physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health. Additionally, the effects can be serious and costly. Annually, the economic impact of intimate partner violence and sexual assault is estimated to be over $12 billion.
• In June 2019, Canada will host the Women Deliver conference, the world's largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights and wellbeing of girls and women.

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Backgrounder

Department for Women and Gender Equality's Gender-Based Violence Program

Following the June 2017 announcement of It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, the Department for Women and Gender Equality (formerly Status of Women Canada) launched the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Program in January 2018.

The GBV Program complements the department's Women's Program, and helps organizations working in the GBV sector to develop and implement promising practices to address gaps in supports for survivors and their families.

While violence affects people of all genders, ages, cultures, ethnicities, geographic locations, and socio-economic backgrounds, some populations are more at-risk and face additional barriers to accessing services. The GBV Program responds to this need by providing funding to eligible organizations at the local, regional and national levels for projects that address gaps in supports for specific groups of survivors, including Indigenous women, and other underserved populations, such as children and youth, LGBTQ2 communities, non-status/refugee/immigrant women, seniors, women living in official language minority communities, women living in northern, rural and remote communities, and women living with disabilities.

Call for concepts: Promising Practices to Support Survivors and their Families

In January 2018, Minister Monsef announced $20 million in funding for a call for concepts as part of the new Gender-Based Violence Program. Following Budget 2018, the funding for the Gender-Based Violence Program more than doubled so that more organizations, such as sexual assault crisis centres, are better able to help population groups at the highest risk of experiencing violence. The GBV Program piloted an innovative approach to supporting community organizations, which includes:

• a longer funding period of up to five years;
• a two-stage application process, which reduced the administrative burden for applicant organizations. Less information was required in the initial concept phase, which meant a leaner application process for organizations;
• eligible recipients were expanded to include labour groups and unions; provinces, territories, municipalities and their agencies; research organizations and institutes, centres of expertise, educational institutions (i.e. universities, colleges, CÉGEPs, secondary schools, school boards/school districts), as well as public health institutions, hospitals, and health care service providers; and
• testing and evaluation of promising practices is emphasized, which will lead to clear impact and results for Canadians.

Wellington County Project

Today's announcement profiled a project from Orangeville, Ontario, that will receive $799,867 over five years:

Family Transition Place (FTP)

Project title: Rural Response Program

The project seeks to implement promising practices to support survivors and their families. The organization will work at reducing barriers to access to services for women in rural and remote communities through mobile service delivery and increased partnerships between service providers.     

Since 1984, FTP has been providing critical services to women and their children who have experienced abuse and unhealthy relationships. Whether they need a safe place to live, or the services of a professional, skilled counsellor to assist them on their journey, FTP is there to help. Over the years, FTP has become known, not only for these core critical services, but for also being a leader in the field of healthy relationship education. The Transitions Training division of FTP offers corporate training for organizations on domestic violence and its impact on the workplace, and the extremely popular Youth Education programs in the schools are helping to build healthy communities, one classroom at a time.

Associated Links

• Department for Women and Gender Equality's Gender-Based Violence Program
• Family Transition Place
• It's Time: Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence
• Women Deliver Conference 2019

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SOURCE Department for Women and Gender Equality