Globally, 1 in 3 women experiences sexual and gender-based violence. Violence against women and girls, including that which occurs online, is prevalent in all societies and is a distinctive feature of conflict and crisis. Preventing and responding to all forms of sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices, especially for women and girls in all their diversity, is a priority of Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy.
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, announced $4.3 million in funding to support projects working to end gender-based violence around the world.
“Supporting human rights is a core priority of Canada in its international engagement. Canada is committed to advancing gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls, and the promotion and protection of their rights in all parts of the world,” Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister Sajjan announced Canada’s support for the second phase of an initiative conducting research on technology-facilitated gender-based violence in the Global South at an event on technology-facilitated gender-based violence, which was hosted by the UN Population Fund and the Grace Farms Foundation and included stakeholders and partners.
In addition, as part of the $4.3 million announced, Minister Sajjan announced a project that will support increased access to justice for women, girls, and Indigenous persons in Guyana who have experienced violence, and Minister Joly announced a project to improve prison conditions and the treatment of women in contact with criminal justice systems.
“We must take collective action against gender-based violence, including online harassment and violence. To live in just communities, we need to work together to develop laws, policies, tools, and institutions that ensure that all people are supported and protected and that their rights are upheld in both physical and digital spaces. Together, we can build a world where women and girls, in all their diversity, can control their own lives, bodies, and futures without fear,” Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada
These announcements were made during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, which launched on November 25 (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) and will end on December 10 (Human Rights Day).