Provincial Action Network on the Status of Women supports the call for a Provincial Task Force on Gender-Based Violence

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For Immediate Release
October 4, 2018

There has been a significant rise in the rates of domestic and sexual violence in Newfoundland and Labrador. In advance of the In Her Name vigil for missing and murdered women and girls of NL, the St. John’s Status of Women Council and St. John’s Native Friendship Centre are calling once again for the establishment of a provincial task force on gender-based violence. The Provincial Action Network on the Status of Women (PANSOW) is fully supporting this call to action.

We wish to see the establishment of a task force that is well-resourced, which includes a budget, staffing, strong terms of reference, and ministerial level accountability. If we are to see tangible change in the levels of violence women and girls experience daily we must have the political will to drive significant changes in legislation, policy, and funding.

We are aware of the Minister’s Committee on Violence Against Women and Girls in Newfoundland and Labrador struck last year and support that community collaboration. The committee can be a significant and vital part of the work of the task force. However, a St. John’s-centric committee alone is simply not the right mechanism to deal with the magnitude of the issues of violence against women and girls in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Paula Sheppard Thibeau, PANSOW Co-chair and Executive Director, Corner Brook Status of Women Council:

“Only through a collaborative approach that includes stakeholders from various sectors and areas of the province can we reduce violence in our families and communities. The work of a gender-based violence task force must focus on strengthening efforts for early identification and intervention, and providing individuals affected with the necessary supports to gain economic, psychological, and physical well-being.”

Raelene Vickers, Executive Director, Mokami Status of Women Council:

“Violence against women and girls in Labrador is a massive concern that needs to be addressed through a province-wide task force on gender-based violence. Labrador communities have some of the highest rates of domestic violence across the country, and too many women are at risk. The cultural needs of Indigenous communities in Labrador must be included in a provincial plan to end gender-based violence. Women and girls in Labrador need to know that their safety and lives matter to the province.”

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Media Contacts

Paula Sheppard Thibeau
PANSOW Co-chair
Executive Director
Corner Brook Status of Women Council
Tel. 709.639.8522
cbwomenscentre@gmail.com 

Jenny Wright
Executive Director
St. John’s Status of Women Council
Tel: 709.753.0220
jenny@sjwomenscentre.ca

PANSOW applies a provincial lens to issues of equality and ensure a public voice for women from a non-partisan, grassroots, and feminist perspective. PANSOW consists of the Executive Directors of all eight councils in Newfoundland and Labrador. PANSOW’s mandate is two-fold: To educate and build awareness on broad issues related to gender equity and justice in the province; and to advocate for change in government policy and legislation that facilitates gender equity and justice.

S.H.O.P. & Happy City St. John’s to host city-wide meetings with innovative Vancouver-based organization on community safety and collaboration

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 13, 2017

St. John’s, NL

 

S.H.O.P. & Happy City St. John’s to host city-wide meetings with innovative Vancouver-based organization on community safety and collaboration

 

Safe Harbour Outreach Project (S.H.O.P.) and Happy City St John’s are hosting the Living in Community initiative that works to find solutions to the impact of sex work and youth sexual exploitation on communities and to reduce the harms and isolation that sex workers experience. Culminating in a year-long pilot project led by S.H.O.P., several sessions with community groups, government, law enforcement, sex workers and residents will work towards applying the successful Vancouver model for safer communities to St. John’s.

S.H.O.P. and Happy City are also hosting a public information session this evening, which will be an opportunity to hear in detail about Living in Community’s innovative policy work in Vancouver, British Columbia in the aftermath of the tragedy of missing and murdered sex workers in Vancouver’s Downtown East side. Living in Community will outline its experience addressing sex work-related policy and best practices working with residents, neighbourhood groups, business associations, law enforcement, government, health, non-profit organizations, and sex workers to make communities safer for all.

This session will conclude with a Q & A with S.H.O.P. and Living in Community on the ways to adapt lessons and best practices to the St. John’s context, to effectively respond to communities in St. John’s where sex work happens. The session will be at the Crypt (basement) of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, at 16 Church Hill. The information session is free and physically accessible.

 

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Media contact:

Heather Jarvis, Program Coordinator, Safe Harbour Outreach Project

heather@sjwomenscentre.ca

709.771.1077

Lisa Gibson, Director of Living In Community

lisa@livingincommunity.ca

 

BACKGROUNDER

Living in Community

Living in Community (LIC) is an innovative community initiative that works to find solutions to the impact of sex work and youth sexual exploitation on communities and to reduce the harms and isolation that sex workers experience. LIC recognizes that systemic change only happens when groups work collaboratively – little is achieved when people work in opposition to one another. That’s why our work is directed by a diverse group of representatives such as: residents, neighbourhood houses, business associations, law enforcement, government, health, non-profit organizations and sex workers. Watch LIC’s short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_9YYJt4Saw

Safe Harbour Outreach Project

As a project of the St. John’s Status of Women Council/Women’s Centre, Safe Harbour Outreach Project (S.H.O.P.) was established in 2013 and is the first and only front-line service supporting women who do sex work in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and exists to advocate for the human rights of sex workers.

Happy City St. John’s

Happy City is a non-profit organization that aims to help people develop a clear picture of what municipal issues are and to understand what can be done about the challenges we face as a city.

PANSOW: Open Letter in Support of Bill C-16

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The Provincial Action Network on the Status of Women (PANSOW) is in support of Bill C-16, to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to add gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination.

Bill C-16 also amends the Criminal Code to extend the protection against hate propaganda set out in that Act to any section of the public that is distinguished by gender identity or expression and to clearly set out that evidence that an offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on gender identity or expression constitutes an aggravating circumstance that a court must take into consideration when it imposes a sentence.

People who are transgender (trans) experience discrimination, harassment and violence because of their gender identity or gender expression.  People who are trans, two-spirit, and/or gender non-conforming are vital members of our communities, and yet continue to experience profound marginalization and alarming rates of violence. Beyond Bill C-16 we must continue:

to make schools safe for trans students and students questioning their gender identity;

to tear down barriers to employment for trans people and create safer workplaces;

to ensure access to affordable and appropriate healthcare services;

to work with law enforcement to improve training and responses to crimes committed against trans people.

As a network of Women’s Centres throughout the province of Newfoundland and Labrador we fiercely strive for gender equity and this includes gender equality for trans women and being allied in support of all transgender, two-spirit and gender non-conforming people in our communities. We are committed to being trans inclusive, and to value and grow through the voice and leadership of trans people.

We call on all Women’s Centres and women-serving organizations across Canada to ensure our work is always human rights based, including the dismantling of binary and heteronormative discourses, and the inclusion of trans women throughout our organizations.

To feminist organizations in Newfoundland and Labrador who wish to join us in support of Bill C-16 and co-sign this letter, please contact us.

In solidarity,

Co-Chair Janice Kennedy

Executive Director BSG Status of Women

executivedirector.bsgswc@gmail.com

Co-Chair Jenny Wright

Executive Director, St. John’s Status of Women

jenny@sjwomenscentre.ca

PANSOW is a network of all Status of Women Councils of Newfoundland and Labrador. PANSOW applies a ‘provincial lens’ to issues of equality and ensures a public voice for women from a non-partisan, grassroots, and feminist perspective. 

 

PANSOW stands in solidarity with the Women’s March on Washington – St. John’s

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Provincial Action Network on the Status of Women (PANSOW) fully supports the Women’s March on Washington – St John’s. This rally joins marches globally in support of the Women’s March on Washington.  Women’s rights are human rights. From safety to pay equity, access to health care and reproductive rights we must remain vigilant so that we do not risk losing hard won rights. We have much work to do in this province to reach gender equality and justice and hope this important march driven by women will become a turning point in our history where we all come together to ensure that half the population is not left behind.

When women flourish, so do their families and our communities.

In Solidarity

Provincial Action Network on the Status of Women.

PANSOW is a grass roots, feminist & non-partisan network which gives a provincial voice on the issues facing the Status of Women. The Network is a coalition of all eight Status of Women Councils in Newfoundland and Labrador.