Battered Women's Support Services calls for community to recognize the signs of abuse and develops resources that promote safety for all women and girls
VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 25, 2021 /CNW/ - Today, November 25, 2021, is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and marks the first of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. From November 25 to December 10, 2021, defenders and advocates for women's rights across the globe join in unified action to raise awareness of violence against women and call for the elimination of gender-based violence.
Here in British Columbia, Battered Women's Support Services (BWSS), has been at the forefront of the national conversation about domestic sexualized violence against women since 1979. For over 40 years, BWSS has been on-the-ground, listening firsthand and assisting victims and survivors toward safety and lives free of violence. They have intimate knowledge of partner violence, sexualized violence, and emotional abuse and are acutely aware that abuse happens routinely within the privacy of the victim's own home — hidden from public view. BWSS asks the necessary question: What does it take to be free from violence? Their answer: It takes everything we've got.
Angela Marie MacDougall, Executive Director of BWSS, says: "We know that identifying abuse and seeking help is always the most lethal time for a woman in an abusive situation. Too many victims and survivors are not able to reach out for help because of fear, victim-blaming, stigma of disclosing an abusive relationship and many other potential negative consequences. So we must learn how to recognize the signs, how to help, and know the ways to safely check in with someone in an abusive relationship. Gender-based violence can and must be prevented."
As part of this work, BWSS has developed resources and shares important, life-saving information:
In sharing this information, there is an opportunity to adopt approaches that tackle gender-based violence from the root causes, reshape harmful social norms, and empower women and girls. There is an opportunity for increased awareness that can lead to pathways that eliminate gender-based killings and violence. Ultimately, this information can save someone's life.
The rise of domestic violence and femicide during the COVID-19 pandemic calls for unprecedented attention to the matter and unified coordinated action to prevent and end gender-based violence against women and girls in BC and around the world.
About BWSS
BWSS is a charitable organization at the forefront of the national conversation about domestic sexualized violence against women. Since 1979, working from an intersectional, anti-oppression, and feminist framework that promotes equality, BWSS has been intimately involved in providing education, advocacy, training, and support services to assist all women in its aim to work towards the elimination of violence.
SOURCE Battered Women's Support Services
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