Actions and Commitments

Call to Action # 41: Justice (25-42)

ONWA’s safeSPACES

May 29, 2019

The report, funded in collaboration with the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services and Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues, provides a pathway for new collaborative and integrated working relationships in Ontario. ONWA has developed 14 recommendations, which ONWA proposes to implement through a six-part strategy rooted in relationships and collaboration:

#safeSPACES.

  • Survivor- centred and survivor informed services that are culture and gender based and delivered in a trauma-informed approach.
  • Prevention through education, training and public awareness campaigns, both in print and in person, targeting those who are most at risk and those who can respond first to the signs, namely peers, parents and educators.
  • Access to safe and respectful spaces at service delivery agencies that offer women only programming so women can speak openly and without fear about their experiences.
  • Core supports for transitioning to a new life, including emergency funding for immediate relocation, which is delivered in an expedient and efficient manner to ensure women and girls have no wait times to safety.
  • Evidence-based policy and system reform informed by survivor expertise and the successful extraction of Indigenous women by ONWAs multi-partner collaborative network that works across government, disciplines and professions.
  • Streamlined supports offered through a barrier free simplified process.