New money, and first ever gathering, to address violence against women

Holly Jarrett, with microphone, cousin of Loretta Saunders, speaks to a crowd of hundreds March 5, 2014, at a vigil on Parliament Hill for Saunders, an Inuk woman from Nunatsiavut who was recently found murdered in New Brunswick. Inuit representatives are busy this week preparing for the first ever roundtable on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women which takes place in Ottawa on Fri., Feb. 27. (PHOTO COURTESY ITK)

Organizations that work to address and reduce violence against women have a potential new pot of money to draw from in Ottawa.

Status of Women Canada announced a call for proposals Feb. 24 under a new “Working to End Violence against Women and Girls” initiative which will provide up to $300,000 for local or regional projects and up to $500,000 for projects at the national level.

“Violence against women and girls takes a terrible toll on individuals, families and communities.” Said Kellie Leitch, minister responsible for the Status of Women, in the federal news release.

“That’s why our government is taking action to end gender-based violence and to improve support for victims.”

Projects “must include, and will be assessed on,” the following points, the news release says, and should:

• focus on improving or transforming the environment that perpetuates or contributes to violence against women or girls or that puts women and girls at risk of violence;

• confirm key decision-makers and community leaders to work towards ending violence against women and girls within the project; and,

• have the potential to create sustainable change beyond the life of the project.

Status of Women funding proposals are notoriously complex and time-consuming, say some critics, which can, by design, prevent small community organizations from applying because of their limited capacity.

You can go to the project proposal page here to find out who’s eligible for the money and how to apply. The deadline for proposals is April 17, 2015.

This announcement of new money comes conveniently prior to the first ever roundtable on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls slated to take place in Otawa Feb. 27.

Premiers, territorial and provincial representatives and federal ministers — including Leitch and Bernard Valcourt, aboriginal affairs minister — will meet on Friday in an effort to address the long-ignored problem of violence against Inuit, Métis and First Nations women in Canada.

While Aboriginal leaders, especially women, have been pushing for a national inquiry into the issue, Ottawa has so far resisted, promising instead $5 million a year for five years toward an “action plan” to address issues of violence against indigenous women and girls.

The meeting will be preceeded by a “Families gathering,” closed to media, on Feb. 26. A “Peoples’ Gathering” related to the roundtable will also take place at Carleton University in Ottawa on Feb. 27 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can find out more about both events here.