WE NEED LEADERSHIP THAT WILL COMMIT TO ENDING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
182 women and girls were killed by violence in Canada in 2024. That includes the killings of Indigenous women, girls and Two Spirit people, which Indigenous leaders and a National Inquiry have named as genocide. Those are only the confirmed cases. It is unknown how many remain unconfirmed. Tragically, these are often preventable deaths.
ELECTIONS ARE YOUR CHANCE TO TELL POLITICALCANDIDATES WHAT MATTERS TO YOU.
We need the political will and commitment of our elected leaders to address the root causes of gender-based violence. Economic prosperity and financial independence deeply influence a person’s ability to leave a violent situation, as does one’s social identity.
When governments and policymakers address gender-based violence and intimate partner violence through meaningful investments into violence prevention, early intervention, and survivor support services, they are investing in a country where women, girls, and gender diverse people are able to thrive and live lives free from violence.
THROUGH OUR COLLECTIVE COMMITMENT AND ACTION, WE CAN END GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE.
This election, let us urge all political candidates to:
1. Formally Declare Intimate Partner Violence an Epidemic to acknowledge this pervasive public health and
safety crisis and the need for comprehensive solutions and prevention.
2. Establish a Gender Based Violence Commissioner—an independent accountability mechanism that will
support community-led long-term planning efforts to address and eradicate gender-based violence and to
ensure leadership and accountability across parties and election cycles.
3. Fund and Sustain the Solutions required to respond to and prevent gender-based violence.
WE KNOW WHAT TO DO.
There are decades worth of hard lessons from femicide inquests, death reviews, public commissions and national inquiries that have shown us, over and over, how to prevent these predictable deaths by prioritizing
healthy relationships and listening to the voices of those most impacted. We will be better positioned to end gender-based violence when we target the root causes of the social inequities and injustices that continue to
disadvantage and discriminate against whole populations. The first-hand wisdom found in those communities must help lead us.
Governments and communities across Canada have formally declared intimate partner violence an epidemic. Canada can too.
This federal election, we urge all political parties to commit to ending gender-based violence. Together, we can achieve this important and critical goal.
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