Canadian Women's Foundation

Purpose

This 20-month project will support the capacity of sexual assault centres (SACs) and other gender-based violence (GBV) service organizations to deliver essential programs and services in response to the ongoing health and safety crisis posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It will enhance the ability of SACs and GBV service organizations to adapt and re-design essential programs and services as necessary while responding to specific capacity and community needs. It will also enable SACs and GBV service organizations to maintain operations both during and after the pandemic and continue to serve the needs of women, girls, LGBTQ22SLGBTQQIA+, and gender non-binary people experiencing violence to advance gender equality in Canada. Canadian Women’s Foundation (CWF) will engage and consult with key stakeholders in order to implement a fair, transparent, and efficient process to distribute funding to SACs and GBV service organizations across Canada, outside of Quebec. This funding aims to address the specific needs of SACs and GBV service organizations and ensure they are better equipped to respond to local and emerging contexts, both during and after the pandemic. CWF will coordinate the gathering and consolidation of information from funding Recipients to determine how and to what extent the funding has impacted their organizational capacity to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Other activities may be undertaken, as needed, including the communication of results, dissemination of knowledge, and sharing of best practices among SACs and GBV service organizations across Canada.