New centre will study gender-based violence
OTTAWA — The Liberal government has unveiled its strategy on gender-based violence, proposing to spend the bulk of the cash allotted to create a centre of excellence within Status of Women Canada to both study and try to solve the problem.
Status of Women Minister Maryam Monsef said the money will help collect and share national data on gender-based violence that other levels of government and those on the front lines are unable to gather on their own.
“It is incredibly important that our actions, how we spend money, the way that we deliver programming, is based on knowledge and evidence and that we share that knowledge across the country,” Monsef said in an interview Monday.
The centre will receive $77.5 million of the $101 million the Liberal government committed over five years to the gender-based violence strategy in the March budget, plus $16 million a year going forward, for research, data collection and programming.
The rest of the money will be spread across several departments as part of a federal plan aimed at prevention, providing better support for survivors and helping the justice system become more responsive to the needs of those who experience sexual assault or other forms of violence.
That includes: $9.5 million over five years, plus $2 million annually after that, for the Public Health Agency of Canada to work on prevention, including looking at the maltreatment of children and teen dating violence;
$6 million over five years and $1.3 million a year afterwards, to boost efforts at Public Safety to tackle the online exploitation of children;
$4 million over five years, as well as $800,000 annually going forward, to increase funding to family crisis teams that support Canadian military members and their families affected by violence;
$2.4 million over five years, plus $600,000 a year after that, to train RCMP officers in “cultural competency;” and
$1.5 million over five years to enhance the settlement program for immigrants and refugees.
The strategy was designed to be federal, not national, meaning those who have been calling for a comprehensive plan involving the provinces and territories will have to wait.