News Blog Post: Funding Announced, Survey Launched to Create Made-in-Alberta Strategy to End Gender-Based Violence Blog Post: Funding Announced, Survey Launched to Create Made-in-Alberta Strategy to End Gender-Based Violence October 18, 2023 Every 2.5 days a women or girl is killed in Canada. Every hour of every day a woman in Alberta will undergo some form of interpersonal violence from an ex-partner or ex-spouse. Something has to change. The National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence was announced as an integrated response in June 2021. The plan came with a federal commitment of $539.3 million to be dispersed across Canada in collaboration with provincial governments. While we have waited over two years for more information on how this will impact Alberta, we were excited to attend an announcement last Thursday where the Federal government revealed details of their cost-sharing agreement with the Alberta government. Alberta will receive $54 million in federal funding, over four years, to develop and deploy a 10-year strategy to end gender-based violence here in our province. We were pleased to hear Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women, Tanya Fir, describe the engagement process that will help determine the allocation of these funds. It included: First, a survey has been launched to engage the public on a Made-in-Alberta strategy to end gender-based violence (GBV). It will remain open until November 17, 2023, and we encourage our members, their volunteers and communities to thoughtfully respond (find ACWS’s policy recommendations and further resources in our 2021 response to the launch of the National Action Plan). We suggest you use the text boxes provided to highlight the important work domestic violence shelters do towards responding to and ending GBV. Second, they have encouraged organizations to “share their research, best and promising practices, and fact-based documents on topics relevant to gender-based violence.” ACWS has already started identifying the research and materials we’ve developed that are most appropriate and helpful to share. Third, Minister Fir said government representatives will consult with survivors, specialists in victims’ services sector, representatives from front-line community organizations, Indigenous communities and other partners “to gauge their perspective on what a provincially focused plan should look like.” What Else Minister Fir Said “I am proud we will continue all of that work with our partners as we develop our 10-year, Made-in-Alberta strategy to end gender-based violence and support survivors. This plan will also address the root causes of Gender-Based Violence, support the shift to a culture of consent, engage men and boys, improve our response to sexual violence, and support survivors. This Made-in-Alberta plan will ensure this $54 Million dollars in funding announced today as a result of our negotiations with the Federal government, meets Albertans’ specific needs… Every person in the province, no matter where you live, what you believe, or how you identify deserves to live without the fear of violence. Engagement to support and inform a Made-in-Alberta plan begins today and will be informed by community leaders and organizations throughout the province who are already working hard to support women and girls. We want to hear from Albertans across the province…” Minister Tanya Fir, Arts, Culture and Status of Women Watch the whole announcement here What Excites Us For a long time ACWS has advocated for its members to contribute to the development of a plan to end GBV. Our members have 40 years of experience on the front lines of this problem and shelters have a lot to share. We are happy our members will be included in this consultation to share their learnings. We trust their experience and knowledge will be incorporated into the final plan that will move the needle on gender-based violence. We also look forward to seeing how our members will be equitably included in the final allocation of funding dollars. We are very pleased to see funding allocated to this critical problem. Domestic violence shelter funding has been stagnant for over a decade, while inflation and domestic violence grows. The government of Alberta understands this, and we are grateful for the Federal government’s additional support. We are thrilled the Alberta government has responded to our urgings that an Alberta strategy be developed with ACWS’ front-line community organizational members at the table, as well as those with lived experience of domestic abuse, survivors, and Indigenous communities. Our Policy Recommendations Towards a Plan to End Gender-Based Violence ACWS played an active role in advancing the need for a National Action Plan to End GBV based on international conventions and has supported efforts through its membership with Women’s Shelters Canada to advance this objective. We prepared a document in a response to the June 2021 National Plan announcement. Drawn from consultation with our members, we recommend policies and share further research that we believe will move the needle on gender-based violence. If you do engage with the Alberta government on this issue through the survey, take a peek at this document to better understand what has been and what could be further done to respond to domestic abuse and violence. Besides our position and recommendations, it includes key data on the issue of violence against women.
