Grants and Contributions

Through this 31 month project, Victim Services of Peel (VSOP), will leverage their existing relationship with the Peel Regional Police (PRP) to develop and put in place the HALT (Helping Alliances with Law Enforcement and Trafficking) model, an integrated approach whereby the Crisis Intervention Counsellors (CIC) are embedded in the Vice Unit at the Peel Regional Police to collaborate on Human Trafficking investigations and immediate on-scene response to strengthen the GBV sector. It will address the need to provide real-time support to Human Trafficking Victims at time of police response.

To do so, the project will establish a steering committee with subject matter expertise, engage with local organizations to increase access to long term wrap around services, hire and train 2 Anti - Human Trafficking (AHT) Crisis Intervention Counsellors, organize joint training sessions with PRP, and embed Crisis Intervention Counselors into PRP to provide immediate Client Services. An external evaluator will measure and assess the impact of the promising practice. Victim Services of Peel will share evaluation results including lessons learned, and project successes with stakeholders and the public so that they may replicate it or expand upon it.

The supplemental funding will be used to: 1- increase impact of the promising practice by hiring staff to provide support on evenings and weekends to survivors, and 2- increase knowledge mobilization by hosting a Human Trafficking Symposium aimed at disseminating the best practices to Human Trafficking Police Units, Victim Services Sites, Crown Attorney’s, and Social Service providers from across Ontario.

Through this 30-month project, the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (also known as G136) will collaboratively develop and put in place humane education programming to strengthen the GBV sector. To do so, the project will identify, adapt, and pilot humane education initiatives that show promise in engaging young men and boys as allies in ending GBV. An external evaluator will measure and assess the impact of community-based humane education programming as a promising practice towards addressing and preventing the root causes of violence. Humane Canada will share project outcomes through WAGE's GBV Knowledge Centre and key knowledge mobilization events for humane educators so others may replicate or expand upon the promising practice. An online community of practice, as well as a data and knowledge exchange hub, will support humane educators, and engage them in monitoring effectiveness.

Through this 31-month project, Victim Services Toronto will scale what is currently known as Project Reclaim, a free debt relief service for human trafficking (HT) survivors in Canada, to include survivors in Quebec, Nova Scotia, Alberta, and British Columbia, addressing the pressing gaps in access to debt relief services to strengthen the GBV sector.

To do so, the project will include streamlining the documentation retrieval process and developing trauma-informed support mechanisms. Victim Services Toronto will actively share information on this promising practice, enabling others to replicate or build upon its success and impact.

The supplemental funds will be used to train human trafficking social service agencies and survivors to become champions of debt forgiveness throughout the country as well as mobilizing research through PR and social media campaigns.

Through this 31-month project, CANVAS Arts Action Programs (CANVAS) will scale their Consent Kit Program, aimed at preventing GBV in schools, to strengthen the GBV sector. It will scale to include the Peel District School Board (PDSB), which has the highest percentage of students identifying with a racialized group. CANVAS’ Consent Kit program will increase safety and cultivate more inclusive schools for both survivors and populations at-risk of experiencing GBV across the PDSB. To do so, the organization will revise their Consent Kit program following consultations; build new partnerships and programming; and deliver the Consent Kit program to students and teachers in the PDSB. CANVAS will share evaluation findings and promising practices from the Consent Kit project through in-person conference(s), online activities, and with WAGE’s GBV Knowledge Centre so that others may replicate it or expand upon it.

Through this 31-month project, Access to Justice and Law Reform Institute of Nova Scotia will scale an existing promising practice to strengthen the GBV sector to prevent re-victimization and recurring trauma, and to promote better outcomes for families and children in the Nova Scotia justice system. It will address the need to understand how domestic violence and interactions with the justice system impact child well-being, and to better understand the particular risk to safety that children and survivors face when navigating parental separation and the family justice system. To do so, the project will scale the National Domestic and Family Violence Bench Book and associated training and engagement to support service provision amongst legal and community stakeholders in the context of family violence. The project will undertake engagement, network building and knowledge mobilization activities, as well as develop materials and training for lawyers, the public and community service providers.

Access to Justice and Law Reform Institute of Nova Scotia will engage community and legal experts in the building of a resource database and will share information on the promising practice with others so that they may replicate it or expand up on it.

Through this 31-month project, the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres (OCRCC) will scale a BIPOC community of practice model and implement anti-racist reflexive practices within sexual violence services to strengthen the GBV sector. It will address the need for 1) increased support and decreased isolation for BIPOC staff in Ontario sexual assault centres, 2) increased support for racialized survivors of sexual violence, and 3) increased opportunities for anti-racist organizational and systems change.

To do so, the project will 1) scale a BIPOC counsellor community of practice model to BIPOC outreach, education, and management roles in sexual assault centres in Ontario; 2) create a peer-support meeting model; 3) deploy an existing decolonizing toolkit with allies to enhance organization change; and 4) undertake advocacy work to address the interaction of race and gender oppression on gender-based violence. An evaluator will measure and assess the impact of the promising practice.

OCRCC will publish the toolkit and related calls to action on the OCRCC webpage; present the promising practice and peer-support meeting model; disseminate advocacy work addressing interaction of race and gender oppression in internal and external networks; and present the evaluation summary to OCRCC leaders, so to share information on the promising practice with others so that they may replicate it or expand upon it.

Through this 31-month project, Hollyburn Community Services Society will develop and put in place immediate cognitive-behavioural therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing and triage wraparound support navigation for at-risk and underserved women to strengthen the GBV sector. It will address barriers to accessing GBV supports and services for at-risk and underserved women. To do so, the project will include designing and implementing the promising practices model using GBA Plus, promoting to stakeholders and community partners, conducting pre and post assessments, data collection and a mid-project review, and creating a report. An external evaluator will measure and assess the impact of the promising practice. Hollyburn Community Services Society will report findings to the GBV Knowledge Centre and through community knowledge-sharing feedback sessions to share information on the promising practice with others so that they may replicate it or expand upon it.

Through this 31-month project, Luke’s Place Support & Resource Centre for Women & Children will develop and put in place a limited scope legal service and wraparound support to strengthen the GBV sector. It will address the inaccessibility of supports for women who are fleeing an abusive partner and entering the family law system. To do so, the project will provide limited scope for legal services pertaining to family law and intimate partner violence, and provide individualized wrap-around supports through a support worker. An external evaluator will measure and assess the impact of the promising practice. Luke’s Place Support & Resource Centre for Women & Children will prepare and circulate an evaluation report and information about the support model to share information on the promising practice with others so that they may replicate it or expand upon it.

Through this 31-month project, TransEstrie will conduct research that will help improve healthcare and health services for at-risk groups in the area of gender-based violence. The project will help shed light on access to gender-affirming care in Quebec and on medical violence experienced by trans and non-binary people during the medical transition process. To achieve this goal, the predominantly qualitative research will include a documentary analysis on the content of transition support forums, as well as interviews with healthcare professionals and people who have received or are waiting to receive gender-affirming care. TransEstrie will release its results and analyses through a webinar and by publishing “open-access” articles to inform others about the research findings.

Through this 31-month project, She Matters will conduct research that will help improve GBV services for at-risk groups. This project will increase access to justice and enhance reporting practices for at-risk groups, specifically Indigenous women, in rural and remote communities in Yukon and northern Ontario. This project will address key barriers in accessing forensic evidence collection for survivors of sexual violence in the identified regions. To do so, the project will expand upon existing research conducted by She Matters on forensic evidence accessibility within the defined regions by engaging community stakeholders and members, conducting a literature review with emphasis on the barriers in reporting acts of sexual assault in rural and remote communities, conducting surveys, focus groups, and interviews with survivors and community stakeholders to identify systemic gaps which provide barriers in reporting acts of sexual violence. She Maters will also engage with law enforcement, crown prosecutors, and others involved in the judicial system in each region, to document current protocols around sexual assault cases, as well as evidence requirements for prosecuting sexual assault. She Matters will publish all findings digitally, including a direct link to download the full report, and highlight the findings on the organization's podcast to share information on the research findings.

The supplemental funding will be used for in-person community knowledge sharing visits in Northern BC, Northern ON, and Yukon to share preliminary findings and analysis from the project research.