Day 13:
On the 13th day of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, we have a call to action for our members. We are asking members to take a moment to email their local Member of Provincial Parliament and ask them to encourage the government to properly fund and support the gender-based violence sector.
Email your MPP in 4 easy steps:
- Find you local MPP's contact information:
- Go to: https://www.ola.org/en/members and enter your postal code in the "Find my MPP" box
- Copy and paste your MPP's email into an email
- Copy and paste the subject and letter below into the email and add your MPP's name
- Sign and send!
Our ask:
Subject:
Please properly fund and support the gender-based violence sector in Ontario
Dear <insert_MPP_here>,
Yesterday was the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. According to Statistics Canada, approximately every six days, a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner. In Ontario, we need to see more action in order to protect women and girls from violence.
I am writing today to ask that you use your position to fight gender-based violence by properly funding women’s shelters and transitional housing to ensure there are services and programs available to help women recover from intimate partner violence and abuse.
To that end, we ask that you petition the government to:
- Fund women’s shelters and transitional & second-stage housing to fill the gap between the resources needed and resources available for women escaping intimate partner violence and/or domestic abuse.
- Fund the gender-based violence sector, including shelters and transitional housing organizations, on an annualized basis, so that every dollar is put into communities and services rather than administration and reporting.
- Increase funding to rape and sexual assault crisis centres by a minimum of 30%, as requested by the sector.
- Address the staffing crisis in the gender-based violence sector, especially in shelters, housing, and mental health and addictions supports.
- Repeal Bill 124, rather than fighting it in the courts, so the people doing this vital work aren’t leaving their professions because they can’t afford to stay.
- Implement the recommendations of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened conditions for women and girls in Ontario. The time to act is now.
We thank you for your consideration of this issue and we hope that you will use your position to advocate for women and girls in crisis.
Sincerely,
<your_name>
