Alberta working to prevent gender-based violence with $2M grant

Alberta has announced $2 million in grants aimed at preventing gender-based violence in the province, Minister of Arts, Culture, and Status of Women Tanya Fir, and Minister of Children and Family Services, Searle Turton said Tuesday.

The money will go toward support programs that target the causes of gender-based violence and encourage collaboration among non-profit organizations.

Those receiving grants include the Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary, Boys and Girls Club of the Foothills, Camrose Women’s Shelter Society, Centre for Sexuality Society, Fear is Not Love Society, Radiance Family, Riseup Society Alberta, Safe Horizon, Saffron Centre, The Jessica Martel Foundation, and YWCA Banff.

The province says education and social changes are needed to put an end to gender-based violence, and claims this is the first time Alberta’s government has given money specifically for gender-based violence prevention.



“As we develop our 10-year strategy to end gender-based violence, we have heard loud and clear, we must invest in prevention programming so we can stop the violence before it begins,” Fir said. “Thank you to the survivors, Indigenous women, experts and those on the ground who are supporting survivors and making their voices heard.”

Development of a 10-year strategy to end gender-based violence is also underway, according to the province, including more than 60 engagement sessions with stakeholders and the public, including Indigenous communities and organizations, gender-based violence organizations, subject matter experts and survivors.

The government claims the strategy will build upon other actions already underway such as the Premier’s Council on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit Plus People and the implementation of the Human Trafficking Action Plan.

Fir and Turton also touted their government’s other initiatives aimed at supporting survivors and families like $10 million for women’s shelters, $4 million in annual grants for Indigenous-led prevention projects, almost $4 million for sexual assault services, and $1 million to support sexual assault survivors in rural Alberta.

According to the province, two in three Alberta women and one in three Alberta men have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime.

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