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Finding adequate and affordable housing in Toronto has become increasingly difficult. For women and children looking to leave situations of domestic violence, finding safe and affordable housing can be one of the biggest barriers standing in their way of independence and safety. As a member of the External Advisory Committee for Toronto’s new Housing Plan, HousingTO 2020 – 2030 Action Plan, WomanACT recognizes the housing crisis in Toronto as posing unique challenges to women, especially those made vulnerable by their survivor, newcomer, racialized, and/or LGBTQ2S identities.
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Over the last couple of months, WomanACT looked to our community to find answers to the question of precarious housing in Toronto. We talked with women with lived experience of housing instability and/or violence and the service providers who engage with them. Consulting with communities directed impacted by violence, poverty and/or housing insecurity is key to ensuring Toronto’s new ten year housing plan adopts a gender and trauma informed approach. Ultimately, we want to find out what can be done to help marginalized women and women experiencing violence access safe, adequate, and affordable housing that is imperative to their ongoing safety and independence. 

In our consultations, we asked what our community saw as challenges in finding housing in Toronto, what they would like to see prioritized, and any innovative ideas for the City to address these issues. Many expressed the lack of affordable private market units available, the long waitlist (of over 100 000 people) for social housing, and discrimination by landlords as some of their major concerns. They wanted to see the city prioritize private market rent control, the creation of more affordable housing units, the addition of more shelter beds, and more regulation to ensure fair treatment by landlords. Finally, our community shared its ideas for innovation with us as well, including talk about converting old parking lots into housing units, developing and funding self-contained family units for families fleeing violence instead of shelters, and even finding ways to support women to stay in their own homes after situations of domestic violence.
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In our work with the City of Toronto’s 2020 – 2030 Housing Plan, we hope to address these unique barriers and close some of the gaps that stand between women and safe housing. WomanACT remains committed to the safety and independence of women experiencing violence, and through consulting our community, we continue to honour this commitment. 

1 in 3 employees across Canada have experienced domestic violence. Domestic violence is not restricted to the home and often extends into the workplace. As families across Canada have retreated into their homes to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, many victims are now faced with increased isolation, at times with their abuser.

Is your organization prepared to respond to domestic violence in the workplace?

Make it Our Business is a education and support program that supports you in preparing your organization to prevent and respond to domestic violence. We provide a tailored and whole company approach that allows you to build skill, knowledge and confidence to address domestic violence in the workplace. We can provide a package of:

Make It Our Business is a training provided in collaboration with the Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women and Children at Western University. To speak about your organizational needs and the supports and education available, get in contact today.

WomanACT is undertaking community-based research into women’s experience of financial abuse as a form of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the Toronto area.

Despite limited research on financial abuse as a form of intimate partner violence, it is clear that it is commonly used form of power and control over women. It is a complex and understudied form of violence but has an impact on a woman’s ability to flee violence and her long-term economic security.

WomanACT is working with researchers at the University of Guelph to explore the nature of financial abuse and the impact of financial abuse on women. We are also looking to better understand how financial abuse can be addressed and prevented.

The project will include a literature review as well as undertake surveys, interviews and focus groups with Women with Lived Experience of financial abuse and with service providers working in the Violence Against Women sector. The project will develop a final report with the research findings as well as hold community education workshops with service providers.

The project is funded by the City of Toronto Community Projects and Events Grant Program. 

Find out more about the project here

Ontario Thrive is a non-partisan coalition of organizations and individuals coming together to ask political leaders and candidates for measurable commitments on gender equity in the Ontario 2018 Election. We want to see all candidates put issues of justice, safety and access at the front and center of the provincial election. We believe that issues related to gender equity – gender-based violence, transit, child care, access to justice, housing are all related and require both attention and action in the Ontario election. 

The Ontario Thrive campaign is asking all candidates to complete a survey on these key issues. The results will be posted on the Ontario Thrive website by May 23rd. The campaign is also helping community members get involved in these important conversations. 

How can you get involved? 

Visit www.ontariothrive.ca to learn more and get involved. 

The Ontario election is on June 7th and WomanACT is calling for all party leaders and candidates to prioritize issues of gender equity and women’s safety.

​Approximately every 6 days, a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner. This year in Ontario there have already been 17 victims who have died in alleged domestic violence cases. Violence against women is not only a human rights violation but has devastating physical, emotional, social and economic consequences to women. It can also have a significant impact on children, families, communities and the Canadian society as a whole. One study by Justice Canada found that spousal violence alone costs Canada $7.4 billion annually.

We need action now. The next government should: 

ENGAGE: Critically engage the Violence Against Women sector and Women with Lived Experience of violence in all aspects of policy development and system reform.

REFORM: Ensure that legislation prevents violence against women, supports survivors and their families and protects all women, without discrimination.

RESOURCE: Ensure that all systems and services that support women survivors and their families are adequately resourced.

Read our full platform here

At WomanACT, we are very concerned by the recent announcement by the Ontario Ministry of Education to repeal Ontario’s sexual health education curriculum in September. As an organization committed to women’s safety and gender equality, we believe that access to effective and relevant sex education is a key contributing factor to the health and well-being of children and young people.

Compromising children and young people’s access to information on consent and equitable relationships means putting people’s health, safety and rights at risk. Comprehensive sexual health education that is inclusive, rights-based and promotes gender equality has a role in preventing violence against women. Schools are well placed to shift social norms, attitudes and behaviours. To this end, the curriculum must reflect and respond to the lived realities of young people. Teaching children and young people about consent and healthy relationships is critical.

Just this month, the Canadian Femicide Conservatory released its mid-year report showing that in 2018 alone, 78 women and girls have died as a result of femicide in Canada. 41 of these women and girls were in Ontario. With such shocking numbers of women and girls dying as a result of dating violence, intimate-partner violence, we need to commit to learning and discussing safe, healthy and equitable relationships in our education system. With a rise in cyberbullying, the curriculum must cover how children and young people can protect themselves online and respect one another online. We need a curriculum that informs young people of their rights online.

Sexual health education is more than words written on a curriculum document; it is about promoting critical conversations in schools among young people; conversations about gender, sexuality, choice, boundaries and rights. We want the Government of Ontario to send the message that these are vital conversations that must be encouraged and fostered.

As per our open letter submitted to the Ministry of Education, our concerns are shared by a number of organizations and individuals. The open letter prepared by WomanACT has been endorsed and co-signed by a total of 13 Toronto Based organizations, 41 Organizations based in the province of Ontario, 18 Organizations working in other provinces of Canada, 4 Canada-wide organizations and eight individual experts.

In November 2017, the Canadian government launched the first ever National Housing Strategy in Canada. As a part of this strategy, the federal government made a commitment to working towards a human rights-based approach to housing. The government held a public consultation with communities across Canada on the proposed approach.

In preparation for this submission, WomanACT coordinated a consultation process with stakeholders providing Violence Against Women services in the city of Toronto. WomanACT’s submission stresses the importance of recognizing the intersections between housing, homelessness and violence against women and the many barriers that women face when trying to seek safety. WomanACT recommends that a rights-based approach to housing must recognize the critical importance of safety in achieving adequate housing and the right for women to remain in their own homes. WomanACT’s submission also recommends that the principles in the National Housing Strategy can be further strengthened through a robust intersectional Gender-Based Analysis, meaningful engagement with Women with Lived Experience and a commitment to addressing systemic inequality and discrimination.

Read our policy submission here

In November 2017, the Canadian government launched the first ever National Housing Strategy in Canada. As a part of this strategy, the federal government made a commitment to working towards a human rights-based approach to housing. A key component of the rights-based approach proposed focuses on meeting the housing needs of the most vulnerable groups across Canada. The government is now undertaking a public consultation on this proposed approach. As part of this consultation, the government also developed a discussion paper.

We know all too well the links between housing, homelessness and violence against women and the significant barrier that housing is to women’s safety. We believe that this is an opportunity to offer input and feedback on the core principles guiding the government’s rights-based approach as well as help shape the key initiatives. We want to ensure that the National Housing Strategy responds to the diverse needs and experiences of women experiencing violence.

WomanACT will be developing a submission in response to this consultation and is welcoming input and ideas on the core principles and some key initiatives included in the strategy.

If you are a community agency or interested community member who would like to share your thoughts and feedback on how a rights-based approach to housing can be realized in Canada, please contact us. 

On Tuesday, March 6th and Wednesday, March 7th, close to 250 front-line workers from 40 agencies in Toronto’s Violence Against Women (VAW) sector attended the 2018 Supporting Survivors by Supporting Staff (SSxSS) Training Conference. The event is a part of WomanACT’s annual End Violence Against Women Week in Toronto.

This year’s training, entitled ‘Let’s Get Into It Together’, was facilitated by Bo Yih Thom and J. McKnight. ​These facilitators lead us through a fully packed, 2-day workshop experience focused on four core topics: trauma-informed care and practice, trauma and the brain, self-reflection, and unpacking bias.

Each day, we were guided through several interactive practices and exercises to give front-line staff in the GTA the opportunity to network and engage with each other. Also, through these exercises, participants experienced some of the discomfort, challenges and barriers that women trying to flee violence may face on a daily basis. This was emphasised during an exercise where participants were forced to find new seating arrangements.

Our post conference survey is open until April 6th. If you were at the training, please take a moment to share your thoughts with us. Click here to fill out our short post-conference survey.

This valuable training would not be possible without the generous funding of The Ministry of Community and Social Services.

We are happy to support Bill 26 (formerly known as Bill 177), The Domestic and Sexual Violence Workplace Leave and Training Accommodation Act.

Bill 26 recognizes the critical intersections between domestic violence and the workplace and introduces workplace provisions, including up to 10 days of paid leave for survivors to take paid time away from work to receive important support and services, such as legal support or counselling, without risk of losing their employment.