Safe at Home programs support women to remain in their own home or independent housing from leaving a violent relationship. WomanACT conducts research on Safe at Home programs and policies to help broaden housing options and solutions for women fleeing violence. This work includes convening stakeholders to identify strategies and opportunities to realize women’s right to remain in their own home.

WomanACT brought together leaders from across sectors to identify opportunities to advance Safe at Home housing models and approaches in Canada. This report explores what we heard from the stakeholders, including current policies and programs that can be leveraged and considerations for implementation.

Financial abuse is a common form of intimate partner violence. Financial abuse can involve restricting access to household income and benefits, withholding financial information, monitoring spending, excluding a partner from important financial decisions, and building up debt in their name. Financial abuse has many impacts on women, including long-term impacts on their economic security.

Financial services are in a good position to help identify and respond to financial abuse. This brief describes promising practices of financial services in preventing and responding to financial abuse and explores existing practices in different jurisdictions.

Risk assessment in the violence against women sector is a critical strategy to help identify the likelihood of repeat or increased violence and prevent further harm. 

As part of the MARAC project, a collection of risk assessment tools was reviewed for the purpose of identifying a tool for use at high-risk MARAC tables being piloted in Ontario. This community analysis features a range of risk assessments and examines the different components of the tools based on considerations outlined by project partners and criteria defined in academic literature.

While the research base about technology as a means to perpetuate intimate partner violence has grown, there is limited information available about how technology can support women experiencing violence. With the increasing prevalence of technology and the significant role that cell phones and the internet have in people’s everyday lives, there is a need to understand how survivors are using and could use technology to increase their access to supports and safety.

This report examines the intersections between intimate partner violence, legal help and technology. It draws on data that was gathered through interviews and surveys with survivors of intimate partner violence and explores the experience of survivors in using technology to access legal information and support.

Community-based research is an approach to research that places community at the forefront and aims to achieve social justice through social action and change. At WomanACT, we are always learning about how to better engage survivors in all aspects of research, including design, implementation and knowledge mobilization. We strive to ensure that our research is trauma-informed, survivor-centered and addresses power imbalances that are common in research relationships.

This guide was developed to support researchers in engaging survivors both ethically and positively. This guide also considers the challenges of conducting research during a pandemic and how researchers can work effectively to collaborate with survivors in a changing environment.

Access to justice is a human rights and equity issue that is significant to all Canadians, including women experiencing violence. In the last decade, technology has been identified as a potential mechanism to address the barriers to justice. Technology has changed how organizations and sectors deliver legal services, information and support. While there is a common narrative around technology in literature as a tool to perpetuate violence, there is a need to understand how technology can improve survivor’s access to justice and help facilitate their safety.

This literature review explores the literature at the intersections of these three areas of discourse – violence against women, access to justice and technology. It explores the role of technology in increasing survivor’s access to legal information and services as well as potential risks and considerations.

The Supporting Safe STEM Workplaces project is working to improve access to legal supports and resources for victims of sexual harassment in STEM industry workplaces across Canada.

Sexual harassment is a prevalent issue across Canada that permeates into places of work. In the workplace it can negatively impact productivity and motivation, increase stress, and increase the likelihood of employees leaving their jobs. In response to the high rates of sexual harassment in STEM workplaces, the project will work with STEM industry partners to better understand the needs, barriers, and opportunities related to preventing and responding to sexual harassment.

WomanACT is partnered with the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology to provide tailored support and training to help workplaces prevent sexual harassment, develop comprehensive policy, establish trauma-informed reporting mechanisms and develop avenues for resolution and referral pathways to support.

Publications:

Literature Review: Safe STEM Workplaces

In January 2021, the Canadian government announced a commitment to develop a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence. Leading up to the development of the Plan, we undertook consultations with community organizations and survivors on what they wanted to see in the Plan.

The report provides an overview of what we heard from consultations, including key messages and priorities for the Plan.

Financial well-being has a significant impact on women’s safety. Women’s economic insecurity can marginalize women, increasing their risk of victimization. It is also a barrier to their safety. Financial hardship after leaving an abusive relationship is a near universal experience for survivors.

This submission highlights the connections between women’s financial literacy, economic security and violence against women. The submission proposes recommendations to the National Strategy for Financial Literacy in Canada on how to help close the financial literacy gender gap in Canada while also working to promote women’s financial independence and safety.

Technology and violence against women are closely connected. While technology can help women access information and services, it can also be used to perpetuate violence.

This infographic looks at the ways in which technology and gender-based violence are related.