Yorkton – Violence against women and girls continues to be a serious problem, as disturbing new behaviours, such as cyber-bullying, Internet luring and cyber-stalking, emerge in step with new technology.  Earlier this month, the federal government announced a call for proposals for projects dedicated to the prevention of cyber and sexual violence against women and girls.

“Recent high-profile cases have made cyber-violence and sexual violence against women and girls top-of-mind concerns for Canadians,” said Garry Breitkreuz, Member of Parliament for Yorkton-Melville. “Our government is taking action by supporting projects at the local level to help prevent these forms of violence against women and girls.”

The federal government will be funding these new projects through a Status of Women Canada call for proposals entitled Cyber and Sexual Violence: Helping Communities Respond.  This call for proposals solicits funding applications for projects that will:

• prevent and eliminate cyber-violence (e.g. cyber-bullying, Internet luring, cyber-stalking) against young women and girls; and

• prevent or respond to sexual violence against women and girls through access to community.

“The projects supported by this call for proposals will reduce violence against women and reach out to those who have been affected by such violence,” said Breitkreuz.  “I am proud of the government’s support for grassroots initiatives like these, which improve safety for women where they live and work.”

Each year, the Government of Canada, through Status of Women Canada, provides approximately $19 million in funding to community projects that support women.  Government of Canada support for community-based projects has nearly doubled since 2006-2007, supporting more than 600 projects across the country.  Since 2007, the government has provided more than $62 million for projects to end violence against women and girls.

Applications by organizations will be accepted until 11:59 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time on December 1, 2013.  For more information on the call for proposals and eligibility requirements, please visit women.gc.ca.
According to Statistics Canada:

• In 2009, roughly 10% of adults reported cyber-bullying against at least one child in their household; the majority of these adults (71%) indicated that the child who had been cyber-bullied was female.

• Intimidation on the Internet made up about one quarter of police-reported incidents of cyber-crimes in 2009, while child luring accounted for 7%. Of the incidents of intimidation, 67% of victims were women or young girls. For the cases of child luring, 90% of victims were girls.

Later this month, the federal government will recognize 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, and will mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25, 2013, as well as Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women on December 6, 2013.

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