I hope you are doing well.

Our summer training series ends with one last session on September 28, 2022. Thank you for joining the sessions, and we are looking forward to sharing with you what we have planned for the rest of the year. Please find in this newsletter the recording of the July and August sessions and the details for our upcoming session in September. We would also like to share a Call for Proposals under the Enabling Accessibility Fund’s small projects component.

Enabling Accessibility Fund - Call for Proposals 2022

Through the Government of Canada’s 2022 Call for Proposals (CFP) under the Enabling Accessibility Fund’s small projects component, not-for-profit, for-profit, Indigenous organizations, municipalities and territorial governments could receive up to $100,000 for the retrofit, renovation or new construction of accessible facilities or venues.

Until November 1, 2022, ESDC is accepting applications for projects that help improve and make facilities in Canadian communities and workplaces more accessible for persons with disabilities. This year, projects related to shelters for those experiencing violence and/or gender-based violence are one of the priority areas for funding in the above-mentioned call for proposals.

Information on the application requirements and the process can be found in the Applicant Guide on the EAF funding webpage.

If you have any questions about this Call for Proposals or want to register for a virtual information session, please email NC-HIP-PIP-EAF_ODI-GD@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca.

What’s The Law Got To Do With It?

A Rights-Based Intersectional Approach to GBV & VAW

Our summer training series supports members in understanding survivors' rights and legal support started in July 2022.

The three-part series facilitated by Amanda Dale and Deepa Mattoo is hosted monthly (August and September). During the sessions, they present a rights-based intersectional approach to gender-based violence.

After completing the three series, participants will obtain a certification of completion. French simultaneous interpretation will also be offered.

 Session #3

Trauma-Informed and Intersectional Approaches to Disclosures and Responses

Date: September 28, 2022 | 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM ET

Click the following link to register: https://bit.ly/38Sf6Fl

This third and last session of our series will focus on the trauma-informed and intersectional approaches to disclosures and responses in the context of gender-based violence. This session will also be based on the participants' needs and learning goals. Activities such as practice responses and quizzes will take place.

Click here to access the bilingual poster with more detailed information and our incredible speakers' bio. Feel free to share this opportunity widely with your networks.

 Recording Session #1

How is Protection Against VAW/GBV an Internationally Protected Human Right

During this session, the facilitators presented the Basic International Human Rights Legislative (IHRL) definitions of protection against gender-based violence. The facilitators also shared how gender-based violence survivors can have a role as human rights defenders.

 Recording Session #2 

The Social Determinants of Safety with a Focus on Migrant Women

During this session, participants learned about the social determinants of safety, focusing on migrant women. Using a gendered lens, the presenters defined the who/what/when/how of migration using a gendered lens.

Resources

• Submission to the UN special rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences regarding COVID-19 and the increase of domestic violence against women - Link
• Submission from the Barbara Schlifer Commemorative Clinic: United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women - Link
• Canada: Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women on COVID-19 and the increase of domestic violence against women - Link
• OCASI: Initiative to End Gender-Based Violence - Link 
• CLEO: Family Violence when a Woman is Sponsored by a Spouse or a Partner - Link 
• Gender-Based Violence Settlement Strategy Project - Link
• CORE: End Gender-Based Violence - Link 
• Barbara Schlifer Commemorative Clinic: Race, Gendered Violence, and the Rights of Women with Precarious Immigration Status - Link 

 Presenters 

Amanda Dale is best known for her decade as the Executive Director of the Barbra Schlifer Clinic and previously as the Director of Advocacy and Communications at YWCA Toronto. She is currently faculty at the Women's Human Rights Institute and a recognized spokesperson and expert in how the law impacts marginalized people's lives and women's rights and violence against women. Amanda has remained active in the feminist movement for three decades, contributing to many organizations, including Quimaavik Shelter, Nellie's Hostel, St. Joseph's Women Health Centre, and YWCA Toronto, Women's Shelters Canada, the Canadian Coalition for Gun Control.

Deepa Mattoo is a people strategist and inclusion-focused professional with a breadth of experience in the not-for-profit sector. She is Executive Director at the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic. Before joining the Schlifer Clinic, Deepa was a Project coordinator, Staff Lawyer, and Executive Director at the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario. Deepa was the Law Foundation of Ontario’s Community Leadership in Justice Fellow at Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. She has trained thousands of service providers for best practices and legal education to work with forced marriage survivors, racialized non-status women, and immigration law clients in the context of gender-based violence.