If you live in a rural or remote area of Canada, dealing with sexual assault and intimate partner violence comes with specific challenges. First of all, women and girls in these communities may face additional obstacles to accessing help: social isolation, longer travel times to services, transportation difficulties, areas where most people know each other.
Since the Canadian Women’s Foundation prioritizes funding to communities where the needs are greatest and the barriers are highest, we are thrilled to have secured additional funding to better serve women and girls in these communities. In June 2019, Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) committed to matching up to $10 million in funds raised by the Foundation over 5 years. As we continue to raise money, this funding partnership gives us the opportunity to double our impact!
How the $10 million will make a difference to women and girls
The new funds will advance gender equality initiatives in rural, remote, and Northern areas, as well as fuel initiatives to address emerging issues affecting women all over Canada. The goal of this project, called Time for 5, is to better address both gender-based violence and women’s economic security, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goal Five.
Along with preventing GBV, advancing women’s financial stability is key to advancing gender equality. In fact, these issues are intertwined: Women who can’t access dependable work may not be able to leave abusive partners. And women who are dealing with the trauma of past abuse or violence may not be able to follow traditional training programs that aren’t tailored to their needs.
Through the Time for 5 project, the Foundation can increase the proportion of programs it funds in remote and rural areas, and make it easier for organizations in these communities to meet funding criteria. The funding will help to support the development of the Foundation’s Northern Strategy: a new model for programs that will build the capacity of grassroots organizations.
5 Priorities for programs
This funding also provides the resources for hiring a staff member based in the North to implement a granting strategy in collaboration with Tides Canada, another non-profit focused on social change. This granting strategy will prioritize:
- Holistic programming that recognizes the interrelationship of healthy communities, sustainable livelihoods, and environmental integrity;
- Empowering women and girls, particularly those who are Indigenous, with leadership skills;
- Catalyzing and sustaining community-driven initiatives;
- Experimentation and proving of new models; and
- Amplifying and accelerating impact through shared learning among community partners
An investment in long-term systemic change
Along with increasing supports to women and girls, Time for 5 aims to build the strength of local service providers to do their work and address systemic change. These organizations are already struggling to cover large geographic distances and support women who can’t come to central hubs for services. In some small communities, there is resistance to increasing education about sex and consent, indicating a need to raise awareness about this as a preventative factor when it comes to GBV. In remote and rural areas, there are also challenges like population and economic decline, which may make it harder for service providers to access the resources and funding they need.
Small organizations in these communities do not have capacity to focus on long-term plans that address overall gaps in services. As a national organization, the Foundation can help to address the bigger picture, as well as provide opportunities for community knowledge-sharing and collaboration that will fill these gaps.
Thanks to the WAGE funding partnership, the Foundation can devote long-term, sustainable funding to accelerate progress on gender equality that includes ALL women and girls.
Hi Maureen – we’d like that very much!
We have a mini-library in our Toronto office we can add them to so that staff can read them.
Please send to:
Canadian Women’s Foundation
ATTENTION: Stacey Rodas
1920 Yonge St., Suite 302
Toronto ON M4S3E2
4163651444
My daughter and I are survivors of domestic abuse. We were able to work our way through it and currently have a farm that we’ve worked very hard to grow and maintain. I am 9 years into a relationship that I’ve learned to set boundaries in, but have also realized that the abuse is still present. I would like to get out of the relationship, but cannot sustain the farm financially if I do. Id like to purchase the land I’m currently leasing, as well as equipment and cattle. I would grow and sell hay as well as continue to sell eggs and fresh, organic vegetables.
After healing from past traumas, and before moving onto my farm, I became a nurse. I work hard at both and would only change one thing by divorcing my drunk, abusive husband. He works away a lot thankfully, but creates chaos, stress and drama when he is home. My daughter and I sustain the farm all on our own.
We are looking for grants and assistance to be able to achieve financial freedom.
Thank you for sharing your story, Tammy – We know it is hard to do that, but doing so will help you find the support you need to safely move forward personally and economically.
If you live in BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, parts of QC, NS, NB, PEI, or NU, we would suggest calling 211 – this is a free provincial referral number for thousands of agencies across these provinces.
You could also look at our current grant recipients and see if there is a program in your area to help you develop your current needs. You can find this list at https://canadianwomen.org/program/. Also, you could try calling your local YWCA or looking at the Charity Village website which has a large directory of organizations that might be the right fit for the kind of support you may need during this time. They can be found at http://www.charityvillage.com.
We are not legal experts and so you may wish to seek the advice of a lawyer in planning your divorce and regarding how to get the lease of the land in your name if it is in both your names currently. Some provinces have 1-2 hours of free legal advice for people leaving abusive situations. You could call your provincial legal aid office to get information.
Please be aware of your and your daughter’s safety as you work to change this situation of abuse. Whoever you speak to along the way, ask them about how to best ensure safety. And if you are using a computer or other device, others might check the history – learn how to make your searches safe by erasing your tracks – you can find out more at http://www.awhl.org/security. -Stacey, Canadian Women’s Foundation
Please allow me to send you copies of my three books on systemic barriers.