Additional funding announced to support gender-based violence initiatives

Community organizations fighting domestic violence across the province are getting funding for a second year through an agreement between the Nova Scotia and federal governments.

Government says $5.1 million is going to 28 projects through the 10-year National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.

“To address an issue as widespread and deeply entrenched as gender-based violence, we need an all-of-society approach – one that is responsive to the unique needs of our communities,” said Leah Martin, Minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women. “This funding helps support our partners and advances their work, while ensuring Nova Scotians continue to have access to important resources and support in their communities.”

The province says the projects funded through this program align with recommendations from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, as well as the Mass Casualty Commission and the Desmond Fatality inquiry.

Funding was provided to 16 projects last year for $3.1 million.

This comes after the government-funded programs run by the YWCA Halifax for survivors of gender-based violence.

Several funding announcements have been made as of late on intimate partner violence and other issues disproportionately affecting women in the province. This time the government is investing $2.95 million over three years in two community projects.

According to the YWCA, about 70 per cent of people in its programs indicated that finances were the main reason for them not leaving an abusive relationship.

“Gender-based violence has a devastating impact not only on victims, but on their families and communities as well,” Leah Martin, Minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women, said in the release.