Committees

Health Committee | Partner Abuse Response Program | Shelter Committee | Support Services/Cultural Issues | Women's Voices for Action Committee

The Woman Abuse Council of Toronto is organized around a network of standing committees and task groups that offer the opportunity for members to work on specific areas of interest and concern. The Committees of the Council include a number of sector-specific committees including Health, Shelter, Partner Abuse Response Programs (batterer's programs) and Support Services Cultural Issues. One of the longest standing committees of the Council is Women's Voices for Action - the accountability committee of the Council that is made up of women survivors.

The terms of reference for the sector-specific committees are similar for each of the committees and include: providing support to organizations; developing programs/ policies related to woman abuse; providing a venue for discussion and action on critical issues related to woman abuse; providing leadership with respect to development and dissemination of Best Practice Guidelines; encouraging the development of connections and joint planning; problem solving with other sectors in the community; and engaging in collective advocacy to improve the safety of women and to hold abusers accountable.

Other committees are struck as necessary to provide guidance and oversight of Council projects and initiatives, as in the case of the High Risk Advisory Committee that provides guidance to the High Risk Consult Team, the Advisory Committee to Room of Our Own (the Online community) and the Advisory Committee of Best Practices and Diversity Project. Finally committees and task groups are created to provide a venue for inter-sector problem solving and policy development, such as the working group on women charged. New committees are created by the Council and Board as necessary.