Prevention of Violence against Women Week 2023

Join Us and Seek Justice for Survivors

Around the world, women have become an unstoppable force in addressing gender-based violence, including intimate partner, domestic and sexualized violence.

They are rewriting the rules, redefining power relationships, defining what equity looks like—and demanding justice in cases of gender and racial inequity.

What does justice look like?

Justice is women and girls pursuing and realizing their fullest potential.

It’s girls feeling safe in their communities and their homes without experiencing sexualized or intimate partner violence. Justice is women and girls having choice over their bodies and lives. And it’s more women survivors of gender-based violence standing in their power and while we critique the power dynamics that are at the heart of gender-based violence.

Are we there yet? Hell no…but this Prevention of Violence against Women Week 2023, we affirm our commitment to the pursuit of justice, gender and racial justice, demanding justice to drive change at every level toward transformative change here in BC, in Canada and around the world.

We stand in solidarity with millions of women from Portapique to Winnipeg to Edmonton to Prince George seeking justice on pressing challenges like pay equity, police misconduct, to femicide.

Racialized and gender-based violence are deeply intertwined and rooted in prejudice and discrimination. Recognizing this is just the starting point to address and prevent violence experienced by those who are most marginalized in our society.

Racialized and gender-based violence has no place in our society, law, or institutions, and we are working toward structural solutions to address this.

Gender-based violence—rooted in colonial patriarchy and laws, policies, and cultural norms aimed at curtailing rights—inflicts deep, lasting physical, psychological, and economic damage that keeps survivors trapped in abusive relationships.

We remain in solidarity with the Global South, where efforts are underway to reframe narratives to represent the experiences of women and girls worldwide.

In Canada, survivors are taking action on gender and racial justice that are challenging xenophobia, standing up for Indigenous and Black lives while interrogating the equation of police and prisons with public safety.

At BWSS, we stay on the frontline and in solidarity with the courageous people and organizations at the centre of this fight to achieve lasting political and social change.

Please follow us during Prevention of Violence Against Women Week 2023