Ending gender-based violence starts with a safe place to call home.
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.
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.
Enhanced legal supports and education that help survivors navigate complex legal systems and bridge a gap in services that is often insurmountable without support.
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.
safety plans completed
women died in Canada due to gender-based violence in 2024
requests for service
support group sessions averaging 18 participants at each session
crisis calls received
survivors supported through legal advocacy
With your help we responded to 52,649 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.
The Story of the BWSS Logo: A Human Rights Day Reflection
On Human Rights Day, the Battered Women’s Support Services logo—a design of three dots, one boldly coloured in—stands as a powerful symbol of both crisis and hope.
Lifetime Spiral of Gender Violence
The Lifetime Spiral of Gender Violence serves as a powerful illustration of how gender violence operates as a pervasive and systemic issue, deeply rooted in intersecting forms of oppression, such as patriarchy, racism, colonialism, ableism, classism, and heteronormativity.
National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women: A Call to Address Canada’s Femicide Crisis
On Dec 6, BWSS will observe the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, drawing attention to the ongoing femicide epidemic in Canada. This day serves as both a commemoration and a call to action, urging society and all levels of government to confront systemic gender-based violence that continues to claim the lives of women and girls across the country.