Grants and Contributions

Victims and Survivors of Crime Week will take place from May 10 to May 16, 2026. Victims and Survivors of Crime Week projects provide an opportunity to raise awareness about victim issues and about the programs, services and laws in place to help victims and survivors of crime and their families.

Victims and Survivors of Crime Week will take place from May 11 to May 17, 2025. Victims and Survivors of Crime Week projects provide an opportunity to raise awareness about victim issues and about the programs, services and laws in place to help victims and survivors of crime and their families.

This 25-month project aims to explore forensic DNA self-collection as an innovative solution to improve access to evidence collection after sexual assault in rural, remote, and underserved communities across Canada.

Aligned with Call to Justice 5.5 of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the initiative will examine international innovations from Australia, the UK, and Kenya, as well as domestic practices involving ongoing self-collection methods. Stakeholder interviews across number of provinces and territories will gather insights from legal professionals, law enforcement, front-line organizations, First Nations leaders, and medical professionals. A survey targeting the general public, including survivors, will assess perceptions and feasibility of self-collection.

Key outputs include a draft forensic DNA self-collection protocol informed by literature, stakeholder feedback, and survey results. This protocol will be tested and refined through consultations and with healthcare providers.

The project will culminate in a public webinar to share findings and gather additional input, ensuring recommendations reflect diverse needs. The final report will synthesize findings, provide actionable recommendations, and contribute to advancing equitable and accessible evidence collection solutions for survivors of sexualized violence across Canada.

The supplemental funding will be used for in-person community engagement across the five identified regions of the project: Ontario, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Newfound and Labrador and Manitoba.

Through this 43-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.

With the Supplemental funds and extension provided in early 2026, She Matters will conduct a National Landscape Scan to map trauma-informed sexual assault services available to minors across Canada, identifying gaps across regions, FNIM communities, rural areas, and underserved populations. Drawing on these findings and service provider input, She Matters will work with regional advisors to co-develop a Reimagined First Response Pathway for Minors experiencing sexual violence. Results and tools will be shared through a Knowledge Mobilization Web Page featuring an interactive national map of service availability, alongside a National Awareness Campaign and Public Launch to disseminate findings. Through this work, She Matters will strengthen the national evidence base, highlight service gaps and promising practices, and support improved first response for minors experiencing sexual violence across Canada, thereby advancing gender equality.