In January 2025, Premier David Eby formally recognized gender-based violence (GBV) as a national epidemic. In his mandate letter to Minister of Finance Brenda Bailey, the Premier directed her to:
“Work with partners to address the national epidemic of gender-based violence as it relates to our province, and work with stakeholders to ensure that government programs and initiatives reflect the interests and concerns of people with lived experience.
Work with the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs and the Attorney General to ensure that we are meeting our targets on delivering accessible transition housing for women fleeing violence, and that the justice system is responsive to the needs of survivors of gender-based violence.”
This recognition was overdue—but critical. It acknowledged what survivors, advocates, and frontline workers have been saying for decades: GBV and violence against women are not private tragedies. They are public safety emergencies—structural, enduring, and woven into the very systems meant to protect.
But a declaration is not implementation. And symbolism is not safety.
Last week, Dr. Kim Stanton released her final report following an independent review of
BC’s justice system response to intimate partner and sexual violence. Her findings are as clear as they are
damning: survivors are routinely disbelieved, retraumatized, and failed. These are not isolated
missteps—they are systemic patterns.
Her report outlines four overarching barriers that prevent meaningful justice and safety:
- Silos between and within institutions prevent coordinated, survivor-informed responses.
- Lack of accountability means government actors face few consequences when failing to follow law or policy.
- Failure to understand the costs of inaction, including the human and financial toll of systemic neglect.
- Lack of intersectional analysis, which ignores how race, Indigeneity, gender identity, immigration status, and poverty shape experiences of violence and access to justice.
These systemic failures mirror what BWSS documented in our Colour of Violence report and our analysis Justice: Or Just a Piece of Paper? —the devastating impact of institutional neglect and the ways survivors are pushed out of systems designed without them in mind.
Dr. Stanton also highlighted the lived consequences of these failures. Survivors often face:
- Profound lack of confidence in the legal system
- Fear of criminalization or reprisal
- Inadequate access to legal, health, and housing supports
- Ongoing social and economic vulnerability
- Shame, stigma, and self-blame
- The impacts of systemic racism and colonialism
- Fear of child apprehension
These are not hypothetical risks. They are the real and persistent conditions under which survivors are forced to navigate for safety—and survival.
Dr. Stanton’s report includes nine concrete recommendations that chart a way forward:
- The declaration of GBV as an epidemic must be operationalized. It must inform policy, resourcing,
and public communication across ministries. - Internal government accountability mechanisms must be established to ensure every ministry
fulfills its obligations. - A Gender-Based Violence Commissioner must be appointed to provide independent oversight and
drive cross-sector implementation. - Prevention must be prioritized through education, housing supports, and standardized risk
assessments in criminal and family law. - Community-based supports must be strengthened with long-term investment in frontline, trauma-
informed services. - Cross-sector collaboration must deepen, including regional hubs that integrate legal, housing,
health, and culturally safe services. - A standing GBV Death Review Committee must be created to ensure systemic learning from every
femicide. - A collaborative GBV data strategy must be developed to capture disaggregated data and track
outcomes. - The Violence Against Women in Relationships (VAWIR) policy must be updated and transformed
into enforceable legislation.
At BWSS, these recommendations reflect the direction we are already moving. Through our
#DesignedWithSurvivors initiative, we are advancing a public safety agenda built on five core strategies:
- Legal and justice reform, including prosecutorial transparency and standardized risk assessment
- Public and youth education to prevent violence before it starts
- Expanded community-based supports, housing, and trauma and violence-informed services
- Cross-sector accountability from police, Crown counsel, and courts
- Whole-of-government implementation that is transparent, coordinated, and measurable
We are also actively:
- Calling for independent oversight of Crown counsel and public reporting on charge approval rates
- Conducting a critical analysis of restorative justice programs that fall short in IPV and sexual
violence cases - Meeting with municipal leaders and provincial partners to co-create local safety strategies rooted in
lived experience
This is the work ahead. It’s not flashy. It’s not symbolic. It’s difficult, detailed, and urgent. It requires moving
from words to systems, from recognition to transformation.
Dr. Stanton’s report is not the beginning. It is confirmation. It validates what survivors have told us for
years—and what frontline organizations like BWSS have long made visible.
The declaration is done. The roadmap is here. Now, the work begins. Survivors have waited long enough.
Let’s ensure this moment becomes the turning point—not just another talking point.
