Question Period Note: National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence

How is the Government of Canada working to end gender-based violence through a national approach?

• Everyone has the right to live free from violence. Ending gender-based violence is everyone’s responsibility – it is a multi-faceted and complex problem that requires effort from all levels of government, the private sector, civil society, and all individuals living in Canada.

• It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence, launched in 2017, committed over $200M in new investments and over $40M per year ongoing to advance efforts in three areas: preventing gender-based violence; supporting survivors and their families; and promoting responsive legal and justice systems.

• The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for a National Action Plan and amplified its urgency.

• The Department for Women and Gender Equality is currently engaging federal, provincial, and territorial partners, Indigenous leaders, as well as other stakeholders to advance the development of the National Action Plan.

Gender-based violence is one of the most pervasive, deadly and deeply-rooted human rights violations of our time, and the Government of Canada is committed to preventing and addressing it. Many people in Canada face violence every day because of their sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or perceived gender. Gender-based violence is a significant barrier to achieving gender equality and it is preventable.

It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence
In 2017, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality (formerly Status of Women Canada) launched the Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence (GBV Strategy), which takes a whole-of-government approach to prevent and address GBV and brings together the GBV-related efforts of all federal departments and agencies.

Early accomplishments under the Strategy include:
• Amending the Canada Labour Code to strengthen existing frameworks for the prevention of harassment and sexual violence in the workplace (Employment and Social Development Canada);
• Strengthening sexual assault provisions in the Criminal Code (Justice Canada);
• Creating the Sexual Assault Review Team, which has completed a review of over 30,000 “unfounded” sexual assault case files (RCMP);
• Launching the GBV Program, which provides funding to organizations working in the GBV sector to implement innovative interventions (WAGE);
• Launching the GBV Knowledge Centre’s online platform in December 2018 (WAGE);
• Developing 3 national surveys to establish baselines on the prevalence of different forms of GBV and provide a deeper understanding of GBV in Canada and measure progress over time (WAGE and StatsCan):
o The Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces released provincial findings in December 2019, followed by the release of territorial findings in August 2020;
o The Survey on Individual Safety in Postsecondary Student Population released findings in September 2020; and
o The Survey on Sexual Misconduct in the Workplace is in development.

National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence
In December 2019, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality was mandated to build on the foundation laid by the GBV Strategy and move forward to develop a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, with a focus on ensuring that anyone facing gender-based violence has reliable and timely access to protection and services, with the support of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

The National Action Plan will align with and enhance other federal priorities including: the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ Calls for Justice, the National Housing Strategy, the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, and the National Strategy on Countering Radicalization to Violence. It will be informed by years of departmental engagement with survivors, direct service providers, experts, advocates, and academics as well as by parliamentary and stakeholder reports and calls to action.

COVID-19 Impacts on Gender-Based Violence
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted the economic well-being of women. The UN has referred to a shadow pandemic of violence against women during the pandemic. While Canadians have been urged to stay at home, home is not safe for women or their children who experience domestic or intimate partner violence. There is widespread anecdotal evidence that the incidence and severity of GBV may be increasing during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly intimate partner violence. For example, many organizations providing services to women and children fleeing violence across the country have reported an increase in calls since the beginning of the pandemic. Others have seen a significant decrease, raising concerns that survivors cannot access help.

The pandemic has provided clear evidence that a comprehensive National Action Plan is critical and must provide concrete solutions to gaps in supports needed by women and children facing violence.

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