Saturday April 26, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
This past week, April 20 to 26, has been Violence Against Women Week.
Today Jennifer Blatherwick, parliamentary secretary for gender equity, has released a statement about Prevention of Violence Against Women Week.
Despite drawing attention to the needs of women — their equity, safety and wellness in society — the continuation of oppression against women continues in ways both subtle and obvious.
Anti-woman stances appear across all aspects of society, despite decades of feminism and work by various programs and governments to see things improved.
Women’s health is impacted by gender-based bias in research and front-line care, women’s economic stability is impacted by variable working conditions, and violence against women occurs by intimate partners and against older and elderly women.
One of the most egregious types of violence against women is the tragedy of missing and murdered women and girls which heavily impacts the Indigenous families and communities.
The root causes of this violence are economic and social, not always eased by government or regulation. Much more still needs to be done in terms of housing, job stability for women, public education (including for men as to women in society), and more.
Statement about Prevention of Violence Against Women Week
Jennifer Blatherwick, parliamentary secretary for gender equity
“This week, we recognized Prevention of Violence Against Women Week and the pervasive and devasting impacts of gender-based violence throughout Canada.
“Gender-based violence leaves too many in B.C. unsafe in their own communities. Women, girls, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people are disproportionately targeted by violence – particularly Indigenous and racialized women, newcomers, women with disabilities and 2SLGBTQIA+ people. Our government’s commitment is to prevent violence against all women, girls, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people in B.C.
“Our Gender-Based Violence Action Plan is helping prevent and respond to gender-based violence and ensure survivors of violence can access the care and supports they need. We are supporting survivors by boosting resources for services and building more women’s transition housing.
“We also know that children and youth benefit from learning about healthy relationships, boundaries and regulating emotions. That’s why we support age-appropriate educational and awareness programs in K-12, such as the Violence is Preventable program. As part of the program, counsellors go to schools to deliver presentations about intimate-partner violence and help connect students experiencing violence to these counsellors. We also created consent-awareness campaigns, which are promoted at all public post-secondary institutions.
“We continue to support Indigenous self-determination and healing through programs like the Path Forward Community Fund and new Indigenous-led initiatives that promote safety planning, capacity building and culturally safe approaches and solutions to gender-based violence. “I encourage all British Columbians to join the effort to build a province that is safe and welcoming for everyone.”
