On Thursday, February 24th, Julie White - along with several other invited union and NGO representatives - attended a round table meeting with Minister Rona Ambrose to discuss the issue of violence against girls.
This is a report on the round table meeting as posted on the
CLC blog UNCSW: A Union Perspective, written by Margaret McPhail of the OSSTF:
Several representatives from Canadian NGOs and unions were invited to a roundtable discussion on violence against girls with Canada’s Minister for Status of Women Rona Ambrose, SWC staff, and other members of the official Canadian delegation, including the White Ribbon Campaign, Plan Canada/International, and representatives from several provincial governments. Invitees included the YWCA, FAFIA, FFQ, CAW, OSSTF, and the Canadian Voice of Women.
The White Ribbon Campaign representative, and co-chair for the session, opened by asking the women to make a brief statement about their organization’s work. He indicated this would be followed by an interactive conversation highlighting experiences and challenges, and consideration of a shared vision and opportunities.
The overview of involvement by unions, agencies, advocacy groups and government departments was both informative and thought-provoking. It was unfortunate - but not surprising with only one hour allocated to the roundtable - that there was no real opportunity to move beyond these introductory statements.
Nonetheless certain themes emerged. One was the complexity and sheer extent of violence against women and girls. The YWCA noted that 100,000 women and children enter shelters each year in Canada, while others spoke of initiatives on sexual assault, missing and murdered aboriginal women, trafficking, and gender-based violence in schools and workplaces. In particular, the young women from Plan International highlighted issues regarding the rights of youth and girls.
A second theme concerned the need to go beyond the provision of services, important as these are, to research and analyze the environments that permit, and even foster, violence against women and girls. This includes legal and other impediments facing women, such as economic barriers and a lack of options/rights to prevent or leave violent situations. There is also a need for legal protections and workplace supports to deal with gender-based violence, including domestic violence, and the ability to access time away from work and counseling services. As well, stereotypical and harmful definitions of masculinity, as well as violence in entertainment and media, must be addressed.
The need for a comprehensive, co-ordinated and properly-resourced action plan to address gender-based violence was another recurring theme. Representatives from government programs spoke of their current work to share best practices, provide training for agencies and departments, and develop new strategies on identified concerns. Others filled out this picture identifying the need for a strong legislative framework, including the recent changes to the Ontario Health and Safety Act, and the campaign to retain the gun registry. The importance of doing prevention work with men and boys was also flagged as a necessary part of the strategy. Several identified the urgent need for government leadership in developing a national action plan, such as that in Australia, and drawing together all levels of government.
In her response, the Minister noted that what she had heard at the roundtable was the same as what she was hearing across the country and there was still a huge, unfinished agenda. She referred to her own experience working in shelters and gave a personal commitment to work together on this issue, saying she now used every table available to her to talk about women’s issues. She noted that the government under Stephen Harper had already spent $30 million in funding projects since 2007.
While the Minister agreed on the need for a national strategy on violence and talked about the significance of “dollars and infrastructure” she framed her comments around the importance of making sure the right type of data is available to know where to target attention, and the need to reach out to girls and people who are not “as aware of” their rights and available resources, particularly those in “vulnerable communities”. This seemed consistent with the focus of her earlier statement at the United Nations where she emphasized the attention her government is giving to “honour killings” although these represent only a very tiny piece of violence against women and girls and can be addressed under existing legislation.
The Plan International representative ended the roundtable saying she did not want to come back in a few years to find we were still in the same place and calling for a National Action Plan. She asked the Minister if we could look to her Ministry on that. In response, the Minister made a commitment to continue to work on this issue, saying she would “love to see a national strategy” but that must involve the provincial/territorial partners also. This could be a topic at the upcoming federal/provincial/territorial table discussion of Ministers responsible for women’s issues.
Following the meeting, an attempt was made with staff to get a commitment for a future meeting with the Minister to continue the discussion. We were told to send her a letter.
Reporter: Margaret McPhail, Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers'
While the 55th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women continues in New York, Julie White and Kim Yardy returned home this past weekend having had the honour and the privilege of attending the first 7 days of the two-week UNCSW55. 
