On the frontline since 1979.
Battered Women’s Support Services provides education, advocacy, and support services to assist all victims and survivors in our aim to work towards the elimination of gender-based violence and to work from a feminist perspective that promotes gender equity.
Enhanced legal supports and education that help survivors navigate complex legal systems and bridge a gap in services that is often insurmountable without support.
Community Engagement
Battered Women’s Support services provides many opportunities for you to work with us.
If you believe that all gender based violence must end, then check out our violence prevention opportunities for allies.
Support for survivors and victims of gender based violence
You have the right to be safe and free from violence.
Anyone who has experienced gender based violence, abuse in an intimate relationship, childhood sexual abuse or adult sexual assault may access our services.
Research and Policy
We provide critical data, research, and policy analytics to grassroots and community-based organizing campaigns.
This strengthens our impact by mobilizing community-based experiences and evidence-informed resources from an intersectional, anti-oppressive, feminist and critical race theory, analysis, and practice.
Special Projects and Initiatives
Battered Women’s Support Services hosts and produces special projects and grassroots collaborations that include research & policy analysis, strategic interventions, advertising campaigns, conferences, and more.
My Sister’s Closet
A Social Enterprise of BWSS
We are solid members of the zero waste, eco fashion, and the thrift movement. 100 percent of revenue generated from sales help fund the violence prevention and intervention services and programs operated by BWSS.
Professional Training & Presentations
Since 1979 BWSS has developed curriculum and delivered training workshops based on an empowerment model.
Our curriculum is grounded in theoretical foundations, current research, practical skills.
women died in Canada due to gender-based violence in 2021
%
were killed in their own home or the home they shared with the accused
%
Canadian girls have been harassed or abused online
BWSS had 94,736 requests service from March 1, 2020 – March 31, 2022
With your help we responded to 94,736 requests for service
More than a third of all women, girls, and gender-diverse folks worldwide will experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.
We are working to change that.
End Violence with Your Inbox
Sign up to receive updates as together we take action to end violence against women and girls.
Ending Violence Blog
Our advocacy work extends to our award winning Ending Violence Blog where we provide resources and information to end gender based violence.
International Women’s Day 2024
Today, as we commemorate International Women’s Day, we honour the remarkable strength, achievements, and unity of women, girls, and femmes worldwide. It’s a day to celebrate their resilience in the face of adversity but also to confront the harsh realities of gender-based violence, misogyny, and oppression that continue to plague our communities.
BWSS Response to the Expansion of Legal Aid in BC
Last week, there was a significant development in legal aid for survivors of intimate partner violence who are navigating the family law system. The Government of BC announced an expansion of legal aid, with an infusion of $29 million towards family law services for survivors of violence in intimate relationships.
Why I March? Women’s Memorial March by Angela Marie MacDougall
It has taken a while to write this, and even now, as the words hit the electronic page, it is uncertain if this is the time or the format to share some of the reasons why I march on February 14th at the Women’s Memorial March. Ultimately, it is about my own experience as a bi-racial Black girl growing up in Metro Vancouver, where all the memories from childhood and youth are shared by a day-to-day experience and witnessing of misogynist and racist violence against women and girls.