According to a March 8 news release, Nova Scotia’s government is funding 16 community-based groups “for projects that address gender-based violence.”
“In its first year, 2023-24, the province is providing more than $3.1 million to projects that increase prevention efforts and ensure underserved populations are prioritized and supported in culturally appropriate ways,” states the release.
It notes the projects are being funded through the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, a 10-year plan that sees Canada’s government partner with provinces and territories in the fight against domestic violence.
Launched in November 2022, the action plan is based on “five pillars” of action: survivor support, prevention, a responsive justice system, supporting Indigenous-led approaches and developing “social infrastructure” and an “enabling environment.”
Nova Scotia signed on to the plan in December, thus opening the door to receiving $18.3 million in federal funding over four years.
Organizations in the province getting “Year 1 Investments” include the Access to Justice and Law Reform Institute, Family Services of Eastern Nova Scotia, the Antigonish Women’s Centre and the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre.
(A complete list can be found in the news release.)
Another group is the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia. Executive director Emma Halpern said in a statement that the money “will allow us to offer essential supports and services to some of Nova Scotia's most vulnerable and marginalized women and gender diverse people.”
Emma Halpern, Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia
Jill Balser, the province’s minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women, said the funding makes it possible “to support partners like the Elizabeth Fry Society” and its bid to “empower communities to take the necessary steps to end gender-based violence.”
“Together we can create safer, more equitable communities where everyone can live free from the threat of violence and discrimination,” she said.
As of November 2023, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, P.E.I., Nunavut, Yukon, Alberta and the Northwest Territories had signed on to the national plan.
According to a 2022 fact sheet from the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women, females accounted for 79 per cent of victims of domestic violence in the province, whereas males made up 21 per cent.
In both 2020 and 2021, the most common type of domestic violence was assault, followed by sex offences, uttering threats and “other violent offences,” including offences causing death, attempted murder and robbery.
The fact sheet notes that between 2002 and 2021, 35 women were murdered by their intimate partner.
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