International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

As it is around the world, violence against women in Canada is a serious, pervasive problem crossing every social boundary and affects communities across the country. According to recent Statistics Canada research, on average, every six days a woman in Canada is killed by her partner. And on any given day, there are more than 3,000 women (along with their 2,500 children) living in emergency shelters, to flee domestic violence. Many more women suffer in silence due to lack of adequate resources to support women shelters – often in rural and remote communities across Canada. Violence remains a significant barrier to women’s equality and we know it has devastating consequences in the lives of women, children, families and Canadian society as a whole.

Unifor has made ending gender-based violence a priority, and we will observe November 25th along with the rest of an international community dedicated to making the world a safer place. But Unifor recognizes that raising awareness isn’t enough. Along with our combined rich history of trying to address the root causes of gender-based violence, our union has achieved significant victories at the bargaining table that work towards advancing women’s equality and human rights (including the right to be free of violence). Some of our collective bargaining achievements include anti-discrimination clauses in our collective agreements, harassment and complaint procedures, right to refuse work based on harassment, harassment prevention training and our ground breaking and world renowned Women’s Advocate program.