DisAbled Women’s Network Canada (DAWN)|Réseau d’action des femmes handicapées (RAFH) du Canada

Purpose

This 36-month project will increase the leadership capacity of women with disabilities and Deaf women in advocating for their rights to employment and employment services, such as apprenticeships and training, in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. In collaboration with women with disabilities and Deaf women, barriers and gaps in services will be examined using a feminist disability perspective and an intersectional approach. Employers and employment service providers will be engaged through human rights workshops which will focus on how to support women with disabilities and Deaf women to either gain or retain employment. A train-the-trainer model will be developed whereby women with disabilities and Deaf women will be trained to lead the implementation of these workshops in their communities. A framework will be developed which will include recommendations as well as promising practices and approaches that will be shared nationally through DAWN Canada’s network and social media for replication across Canada. The organization will use this framework to support employers and employment service providers in integrating intersectional policies, programs and processes into their work to ensure inclusion of women with disabilities and Deaf women.