Expanding Supports for Gender Based Violence (GBV) Victims in Rural, Remote and Northern Communities (RRN)

Gender based violence (GBV) is one of the most pervasive, deadly, and deeply rooted human
rights violations. GBV presents significant barriers to individual and community safety and
wellbeing and can have significant impacts on a woman’s ability to create or maintain
economic independence. In a recent pan-Canadian study, more than half (53%) of study
respondents who experienced GBV said that at least one type of abusive act happened at or
near their workplace, nearly 40% of those who had experienced GBV said it made it difficult
for them to get to work, and 8.5% said that they lost their jobs because of the violence. The
COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated GBV in Canada. GBV organizations have reported
increases of 20% to 50% in “calls to crisis lines, to outreach and in admissions to Violence
Against Women shelters” (Canadian Women’s Foundation, 2020).