Ending Violence Blog
Via our award winning blog Battered Women’s Support Services provides education and advocacy as we work towards the elimination of violence.
Automatism and the Crisis of Accountability in Sexual and Domestic Violence
Our Analysis The Barrett decision is not an isolated anomaly—it’s part of a long-standing and deeply embedded pattern in the criminal legal system that enables male violence through a range of escape routes. Automatism is just one of the latest tools in a legal...
Legal Acquittal in Barrett Case Highlights Failures of Criminal Justice System in Addressing Sexual Violence
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 17, 2025 Legal Acquittal in Barrett Case Highlights Failures of Criminal Justice System in Addressing Sexual Violence Vancouver, B.C. — Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) is expressing deep concern over the recent acquittal of...
Public Safety Is Not Neutral: BWSS in Solidarity with W7 as Canada Hosts the G7
As the G7 summit unfolds in Kananaskis, Alberta this week—fifty years after its founding in the wake of global economic instability—BWSS stands in solidarity with our national feminist counterparts working through the Women7 (W7) engagement group. These advocates are...
What Would It Look Like If Public Safety Was Designed With Survivors in Mind?
What Would It Look Like If Public Safety Was Designed With Survivors in Mind? What would it look like if public safety was designed with survivors in mind? We ask this not as a slogan—but as a serious political question.Because the current conversation about “public...
“How Could This Happen…again?” BWSS Responds to Brutal Assault of Teen Girl in Vancouver and Calls for Urgent Action
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 30, 2025 "How Could This Happen…again?" BWSS Responds to Brutal Assault of Teen Girl in Vancouver and Calls for Urgent Action Vancouver, BC – A 14-year-old girl was brutally assaulted in a public bathroom in the middle of the day. She was...
Deepfakes, Digital Violence, and the War on Women’s Bodies
Deepfakes, Digital Violence, and the War on Women’s Bodies
What looks like a tech issue is, in fact, a human rights crisis. This is not about innovation—it’s about power, misogyny, and how old forms of violence are repackaged with new tools. From AI-generated deepfake porn to the erasure of survivor voices, we are witnessing the industrialization of image-based sexual violence. The harm is real, and the silence is strategic. At BWSS, we’ve been warning about this for years. We know the tech is evolving—but so is our resistance.
Honouring Mothers: The Reality of Violence in Motherhood
This Mother’s Day, honour the strength it takes to mother through violence. From listening without judgment to offering practical support, there are powerful ways to stand beside mothers navigating abuse. Your support helps provide safety, healing, and hope.
Locker Room, Courtroom, Culture
The trial of five former members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior hockey team is more than a question of guilt or innocence—it’s a national reckoning. At the center is E.M., a survivor whose story challenges not just individual actions, but the culture that raised these men, the institutions that protected them, and the systems that continue to fail survivors. This isn’t just about hockey. It’s about power, silence, and what kind of country we are willing to be.
Red Dress Day 2025: A Reckoning
On May 5, red dresses hang in silence—marking the absence of Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people who should still be with us. But we cannot let these dresses remain symbols. They speak to an ongoing crisis—misogynist, racist, and economic violence—rooted...
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She Tore Open the Walls of Power: Honouring Virginnia Giuffre and Every Survivor
Yesterday, we lost Virginnia Giuffre — a woman who refused to be erased. Her death is a tragedy not only of one life lost, but of a world still unwilling to protect those it exploits. Virginnia stood against a machinery of misogynist violence — a world where the...
8 Strategies to Protect Yourself from Post-Separation Abuse
Post-separation can often be an especially difficult and dangerous time, as abusive partners may continue and even escalate their efforts to exert power through manipulation, intimidation, or harassment. If you are facing this situation, we have prepared a few strategies to support the safety and well-being of you and your children.