Peel Committee Against Woman Abuse

In 2021, 58 femicides took place in Ontario, a 53% increase over 2020. Most femicides are preventable as there are clear warning signs and indicators of escalating risks in 99% of cases. We can take steps to reduce risk before it escalates.

PCAWA is deeply saddened to share that a femicide has occurred in our community. On January 20th a 23-year old woman was killed by her male partner in Brampton. PCAWA sends our deepest condolences to her family and friends. The We Count Femicide Because initiative was developed in partnership with Building A Bigger Wave and Ontario Association of Interval & Transition Houses to raise a public alarm about femicide in Ontario. The issue of femicides in Ontario continues to gr...ow and we must draw attention to the critical need for investments in preventative education. Take a moment to review and share the graphic so we can continue to start and engage in important conversations about femicide and prevention. To learn more about femicides in Ontario visit https://cutt.ly/aIqZYsB

Thank you to Ontario Provincial Police for the donation to our lead agency Embrave: Agency to End Violence !

Today marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Sex Workers, a day to remember the lives of sex workers taken because of violence, abuse and criminalization. Started in 2003, this day was founded to commemorate the victims of the Green River Killer and has since become a globally recognized day to remember, mourn and make a call to action. Sex workers face disproportionate health and social inequities that are the result of criminalization, systemi...c violence, social stigmas, limited community-based sex worker support services and lack of accessible healthcare. To learn about practical ways for our partners to take action and support the sex worker community visit the Maggie's Toronto Sex Workers Action Project website

Utilizing a survivor-centred approach is incredibly important when working with and supporting survivors of gender-based violence. Above all else, the needs of survivors must always be understood and prioritized. Check out these graphics to learn more!

Today is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, a day dedicated to remembering the lives taken due to gender-based violence. It started in 1991 to remember the lives of the 14 young women murdered as l'École Polytechnique de Montréal in 1989. Today is a day to remember, to honour and to take action,... We reaffirm our commitment as a collective to work towards ending gender-based violence and establishing a comprehensive and effective response to violence against women in the Region of Peel.

Do check out today's APTN Nation to Nation's interview with survivor-advocate Evelyn Korkmaz. And a lovely note, that Evelyn's surname literally means 'fearless' in the Turkish language. While any child confronting #ClericalAbuse, #ColonialViolence and #CulturalGenocidaires, surely Evelyn did not feel that way as a child held at St. Anne's Residential School. ... But we are certain that now, so many years later, Evelyn's beautiful voice and courageous witness regularly give validation, solace and strength to many diverse survivors as she continues to speak #TruthToPower. #DecolonizeOurMinds #ResidentialSchoolSurvivors #MMIW #MMIWG2S #NoMoreStolenSisters #SilenceIsViolence #WeBelieveSurvivors

Join the first #OutOfIsolation Survivors' Meet-up of 2021, this time focusing on #affirnations and how we can turn limiting and negative #SelfTalk around. #WeBelieveSurvivors! #OwningMyBrave #SurvivorsStrong

YESSS! We must #normalize talking about the most basic and fundamental aspects of #SelfCare as much as we talk about #Overwork and #TimePoverty.... This includes talking openly about and *caring for* our #MentalHealth, and caring for ourselves enough that we try to avoid #BurnOut. We deserve #RadicalSelfCare!... Thank you Mumilaaq Qaqqaq

To all PCAWA stakeholders, friends & colleagues, all #survivors, & every single one of us: Wishing each and every one a safe, quiet, physically-distance-yet-socially-close NYE, and a more peaceful, gentle and liveable 2021 for all of our families and communities. Peace ! https://giphy.com/gifs/mvrqeQbmX5KS3XBAMo/html5

This #WomanAbuseAwarenessMonth, PCAWA calls on everyone to reflect on the impacts of #ViolenceAgainstWomen / #GenderBasedViolence. #VAW/ #GBV impacts all of us, one way or another: survivors, witnesses, loved ones, and those left behind... So let’s do all we can to work towards a world where raising awareness about violence against women is no longer necessary.... If you need support, reach out. We are here for you. #WeBelieveSurvivors.

Today at 5:00 pm, let's come together and be there for one another virtually in this #SupportCircle with Teneshia Samuel, some of the friends from Moyo Hcs, Qtbipoc Mississauga East Mississauga Community Health Centre Bloom Clinic Peel HIV/AIDS Network Peel in Colour Interim Place and other local groups and agencies will be joining, and we hope you can too. WE ARE ONE! #TDOR #TransDayOfRememberance

To all PCAWA's friends and stakeholders, and most especially to all survivors and to all the #Embravistas where *ever* we all may be (all who have come through 'Embrave House' or worked or stayed there or been supported by Embrave: Agency to End Violence, the seat and secretariat of PCAWA) : May this season be kind to you, may you be safe, and may we all see a gentler and brighter 2021.... To another world; a more just, equitable, safe, enabling and joyous one. #PEACE.

Sometimes the #settler state takes small small steps, but very important ones that we don't hear so much about. #ESCR and the #RightToCulture are for everyone, and these are especially important for those whose languages and cultures have been systematically attacked. #IndigenousVoices.

This #TDOR and every single day, we have to ensure that all the #AntiViolence work we do reaches all the survivors who need us. During #TransAwarenessWeek and the #TransGenderDayOfRememberance, we ask for your donations to incredible frontline supports like our host agency Interim Place. The amazing team at Interim endeavours to create as positive and welcoming a space as possible for residents, and to serve survivors in similarly empowering and validating ways. And Interim ...Place reached a great milestone last summer, launching the first comprehensive and global #GenderDiversityAndTransInclusion policy, which aligned partial policy responses embedded in the services of survivors and took a comprehensive approach to all our staff, volunteers, residents, clients, and community members. All our stakeholders are important, regardless of how they identify, because WE ARE ONE! #WrappedInCourage #TransRightsAreHumanRights #WomxnsRightsAreHumanRights #EndGBV #EndFemicide

Folks, did you know that our favourite satirists have just turned 3??? Check it out: some ideas for bday prezzies for the friends at Walking Eagle News! Donate to 1492 Land Back Lane Legal Fund Auction, or to Indigenous media outlets (the serious ones too, right?), or just share share share their brilliant work, and keep amplifying #IndigenousVoices!... Happy birthday, walking eaglet! :)

This #TransDayOfRememberance, our friends East Mississauga Community Health Centre have collected a number of links to online events for #TDOR. We hope our communities can join in some of these virtual spaces and show up for one another in the ways we are able to do so. We know that showing our support for one another and coming together are more challenging at these times. For all of us who are transfolk especially, our commitment to liberation is unwavering, for each and e...very one of us, no matter how you identify. Although we are distant from one another this year, it is only physical. We hold all our trans-siblings who are gone in our hearts; all who have been lost to violence, systemic, family, emotional, physical, economic and otherwise. WE ARE ONE! https://www.facebook.com//pcb.2034789939/2034789626652697/

The #COVID19 pandemic, on top of a worsening #GBV pandemic we had been facing already, means that trying to move beyond #violence has gotten that much more challenging. Text COURAGE to 41010 to donate to #Ontario's shelters for #survivors of violence if you think this is as important as we do. #VAW, #GBV, #IPV, #DV, call it what you will, violence harms us all.... The hardworking staff and volunteer teams at participating shelters and transition houses, like our host agency Interim Place, are doing the best they can to serve survivors in this complex and difficult context, and thank local communities for every bit of support. See more