Most of the housing options for women experiencing intimate partner violence have something in common: they place the onus on women to leave home in order to reach safety. As a result, survivors of intimate partner violence routinely face housing instability, homelessness, and significant life disruptions in areas like employment, education and social connections.

This research report draws on qualitative data gathered through surveys, interviews and focus groups with survivors. The report explores survivors’ housing options and preferences when fleeing violence. The report also discusses the policies, programs and practices that support women to remain in their own home or independent housing when leaving a violent relationship.

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.

Most of the housing options for women fleeing violence have something in common: they place the onus on women to leave home in order to reach safety. However, policies and programs that prioritize women’s independence can instead enable women to stay safely in their own homes. This shift in practice is a step forward in holding perpetrators accountable for their violence and limiting the consequences for survivors.

This literature review synthesizes the evidence on supporting women to remain safely in their home when leaving a violent relationship. It explores policy and program approaches from other jurisdictions, evaluation findings on the intervention’s outcomes and challenges, and promising practices that can broaden housing solutions for violence against women.

In Ontario, the Employment Standards Act (ESA) outlines various leaves of absence that employees are legally entitles to take. Domestic or sexual violence leave was added to the ESA in 2017.

The factsheet answers frequently asked questions about the leave as well as how employees can access the leave entitlement.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on survivors of gender-based violence and the organizations that support them. Health and safety measures to curb the spread of the virus have resulted in some survivors left isolating with their abusers and facing additional economic and social pressures.

This report highlights findings from a consultation we undertook at the outset of the pandemic. The report summarizes the challenges and concerns of service agencies working with survivors, information on the support they require to continue to operate during a pandemic as well as information on what is working well.