Violence against women remains a critical issue in Canada: It affects not only the safety, potential and equality of women across Canada, but also children and young people.
Though domestic homicides have declined by half over the last 30 years, there are still one to two women murdered every week, and that is only the tip of the iceberg:
Every year in Canada, more than 100,000 women and children seek refuge in a shelter, at least one in five teens in Canada experience dating violence and up to 360,000 children in Canada witness violence in their home.
So what is the answer to ending violence against women in Canada? At the Canadian Women’s Foundation, we believe the answer is twofold: We must provide short- and long-term support to women and children who have already experienced abuse, so they can heal and rebuild their lives; and we must prevent it from happening in the first place by changing the attitudes and beliefs that lead to abusive behaviour.
The Canadian Women’s Foundation funds initiatives in shelters and community organizations across Canada that work along the full continuum of ending violence against women:
This includes teaching young people about healthy relationships, personal boundaries and mutual respect; providing shelter to women fleeing abuse; counselling children who have witnessed abuse to help them heal from the experience and prevent them from becoming victims or abusers themselves; and rebuilding the lives of women and their children after they have experienced violence.
