End Violence Against Women Week in Toronto

in Review

March 11, 2014

On behalf of Harmy Mendoza, Executive Director, and the WomanACT team, we are so proud and happy to announce that the End Violence Against Women Week in Toronto was a massive success! With over 200 attendees from various organizations across the GTA, we as a group of strong and passionate frontline workers, advocates, lawyers and policy makers were able to connect, share and discuss better ways to protect and serve women and children fleeing violence.

We greatly appreciated our VAW sector's front line staff and managers taking the time from their very busy agendas to be part of this event. Your enthusiasm speaks to the importance and priority our sector must put on getting trained and updated on the latest information, tools and tactics that can be used to impact the well-being of women and children facing a variety of barriers such as poverty, refugee status and access to effective legal aid.

Over the course of the week, we were fortunate to have a diverse collection of dynamic and inspiring speakers that provided an array of crucial training opportunities. Many frontline workers for example greatly appreciated the After She Leaves: Supporting Women through Family Court 101 workshop facilitated by feminist lawyer Pamela Cross. According to Soraya Khaleeli, a workshop participant, Cross graciously encouraged the crowd to ask questions and kept the group captivated. Khaleeli confided in me that she now feels much more prepared and informed when briefing the women she works with on what to expect when accessing Legal Aid services. Maja Repecki, an attendee from the Ministry of Community and Social Service, found the weeks content to be relevant, impactful and interesting. Repecki also appreciated the opportunity to network with people she would otherwise have ever had met and enjoyed learning more about the agendas, struggles and triumphs of other organizations.

Although tough issues were debated such as the most efficient ways to empower immigrant and refugee women facing detainment, or how to navigate the family court system, there was also space for laughter and creativity. For example, guests of the conference were encouraged to come view the beautiful and moving art instillations crafted by survivors of abuse. The project Survival Stories Through Art highlighted an alternative way to help women heal and grow after fleeing violent relationships. Participants were also given time to socialize and relax over a delicious buffet lunch catered by the Holiday Inn that included salads, a selection of hot entrees and of course many delectable treats!

The week ended on a more intimate note, as a smaller group coming from 30 organizations met for the Policies Matter Community Forum. It was during this final day that we were able to celebrate the public launch of the Policies Matter website and share information about the Policies Matters Project. The project has sought to carry out a gender-based analysis of the impact of policy and systems on womens safety. Using this information, we hope to develop recommendations and actions to promote the integration of gender considerations into decision-making processes on the issue of violence against women, with a focus on the experiences of women living in Toronto. Guests were given the opportunity to explore the web tool that highlights policy intersections and is designed to help advance policy advocacy priorities. We greatly appreciated the groups feedback and applaud the developers of this amazing online resource.

In terms of next year, we will aim to have a very similar set of events while integrating the evaluative data we received from conference attendeesthere is always room for growth and improvement! We are also exploring the idea of hosting our first International Womens Day Cocktail Party, a fundraising initiative to both celebrate this wonderful occasion and support WomanACT, right after our "II End Violence Against Women Week in Toronto".

To close, we would like to extend a big thank you to our funders and supporters, the VAW/CAS advisory committee, our dedicated volunteers and energetic staff members for working hard to make this a memorable and educational event. Keep up the incredible work everyone!
Sincerely, WomanACT

http://www.womanactsendviolenceagainstwomenweek.com/

Type of News Item: News

Category/Topic of interest:
Woman Abuse

Population Group:
Social Service Providers

Language of News Item:
English

For More Information Contact:
    Paula Wells
    Conference & Social Media Supervisor
    (t)(416) 944 - 9242 x 230