On April 10, 2024. the Government of Ontario carried Bill 173: Intimate Partner Violence Epidemic Act through a second reading, bringing us one critical step closer to having the province recognize that IPV is what advocates have long said and nearly 100 municipalities have affirmed with their own declarations: an epidemic. The Ontario government requested that an in-depth review be undertaken by the Standing Committee on Justice Policy on Bill 173 and issues related to intimate partner violence, including its causes. This committee is being led by Cambridge South Hespeler MPP Jess Dixon. YWCA Cambridge, as a member of the YWCA Ontario Coalition, was invited by MPP Dixon to participate in phase one of the review, entailed invited participants to present oral testimony to the committee and to then submit a written testimony. These testimonies by experts working in fields that intersect with issues relating to intimate partner violence and gender-based violence were meant to help the committee establish a clear understanding of the scope of IPV and GBV in Ontario, to map out existing services and service gaps, and to ultimately inform a report by the committee at the end of the review. YWCA Ontario was invited to participate in phase one of the review which involved giving verbal testimony to the committee, followed up by a written submission outlining our recommendations for the province to take action on IPV and GBV. Our recommendations to the SCJP - Make predictable, stable and permanent investments in the gender-based violence support services sector
- End the gendered housing crisis
- Create conditions that enable women’s financial independence
- Invest in women’s employment and training programming
- Establish a fund for survivors of violence
- Address financial abuse
- Invest in prevention
- Ensure the Ontario action plan to end gender-based violence meaningfully addresses the GBV and IPV epidemic
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