Taking Survivor-Centred Safety to Every City in British Columbia
Across British Columbia, communities are asking an urgent question:
What would public safety look like if it were designed with survivors in mind?
Intimate partner violence doesn’t just escalate. It gets downplayed first, explained away until it is too late. The Downplay Effect names that pattern. Now we are taking it to every city hall in the province.
BWSS has asked every Mayor and Council one question: where do you stand on gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, and femicide? Since 2025, we have tracked who has met with us, who has committed to action, and who has stayed silent.
The response is building. Seventeen municipalities have met with us, from Vancouver and Surrey to Kitimat, Creston, and Ucluelet, and Prince George is bringing a resolution on gender-based violence to the UBCM.
This is not about blame. It is about accountability, and a province where no woman’s safety depends on her postal code.