#DesignedWithSurvivors Campaign Calls for Urgent Implementation of Core Recommendations
VANCOUVER, BC — Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) responds today to the release of The Independent Systemic Review of the Legal System’s Treatment of Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence by Dr. Kim Stanton. The report, commissioned by Attorney General Niki Sharma, is a significant contribution to exposing the systemic failures survivors have long faced when seeking justice and safety in British Columbia.
BWSS welcomes Dr. Stanton’s systemic review and the clarity it brings to long-standing failures in BC’s response to gender-based violence. The report confirms what survivors, frontline workers, and feminist organizations have known for decades: the legal system continues to fail those experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence—not because of a lack of law or policy, but because of inconsistent implementation, lack of accountability, and systems not designed with survivors at the centre.
“The system isn’t broken—it was never designed with survivors in mind,” said Angela Marie MacDougall, Executive Director of BWSS. “This report affirms what we see every day: gender-based violence and violence against women are both endemic and epidemic. We cannot prosecute our way out of this crisis. We must redesign safety and justice systems from the ground up—with survivors leading the way.”
Four Core Systemic Failures Identified
Dr. Stanton’s report identifies four central system-wide issues:
- Inconsistent application of laws and policies across B
- Institutional failure to follow through on legal obligations
- Lack of accountability to ensure competent, survivor-focused responses
- Absence of provincial standards to ensure a higher, more equitable level of conduct
BWSS strongly supports the direction and many of the recommendations, particularly those focused on prevention, survivor-centred support, accountability, and structural redesign. BWSS’s #DesignedWithSurvivors campaign is rooted in five interconnected prevention priorities that reflect our longstanding advocacy and policy work: housing, community-led supports, early intervention, trauma-informed risk assessment, and survivor-centred justice. These priorities are essential to a public safety system that protects before harm occurs:
- Safe and stable housing
- Community-led supports
- Early intervention
- Trauma- and violence-informed risk assessment
- Survivor-centred justice
At the same time, as with any broad report, there are areas where our perspectives differ. BWSS continues to hold critical concerns about restorative justice approaches to IPV and sexual violence, particularly where survivor safety, coercion, and systemic power imbalances are not adequately addressed.
“Our focus remains on creating transformative, survivor-defined safety through prevention, community-led support, and structural change—not reconciliation without accountability,” said MacDougall.
Endemic. Epidemic. Preventable.
In response to this report, BWSS is also advancing a powerful shift in public safety language:
Gender-based violence is not just widespread. It is endemic—embedded in our institutions—and epidemic—escalating across our communities.
And it is preventable.
BWSS urges the Province of British Columbia to act on this moment and take immediate steps to implement the core recommendations of the report, including:
- Declaring gender-based violence a provincial emergency
- Establishing an independent Gender-Based Violence Commissioner
- Funding long-term, community-based prevention and support services
“Survivors and their communities have been leading the way for decades. This report offers the government a chance to follow their lead,” said MacDougall.
