Harmy Mendoza, Executive Director of WomanACT, is showing her support for Bill 157 (amendments to Bill 148) at a press conference on Thursday, September 28th at Queen’s Park.

A year ago, Bill 26 was brought forth by Peggy Sattler, Ontario NDP critic for Women’s Issues, Education, and Skills Development. This bill pushed for:

• Ten days of paid leave;
• Workplace accommodations; and
• Mandatory workplace training on domestic and sexual violence.

Bill 26 was supported and passed unanimously by the three parties, yet referred to Committee, where it has remained with no further action.

Building on Bill 26, amendments to Bill 148, currently introduced in Bill 157 are specifically addressing the following:

1. Amending the Employment Standards Act (ESA) by requiring employers to provide leave to employees who have experienced DV or SV, or whose children have experienced DV or SV; This leave includes up to ten (10) days of paid leave, as well as 15 weeks of unpaid leave per calendar year.
   
   
2. Including a provision that requires the paid portion of this leave to be covered by the Ontario government.
   
   
3. Amending the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to require that employers provide mandatory training on DV and SV to all managers, supervisors and workers.
   
   

Harmy Mendoza believes, “…the amendments suggested for Bill 148 are critical in addressing domestic and sexual violence. I would like to particularly applaud the provision requiring the paid portion of this leave to be covered by the Ontario government. This provision will likely increase the possibility of ensuring a supportive workplace and/or employer, given that providing a leave under this bill would not impact workplaces financially.”

Theresa Vince, Lori Dupont, Ravinder Kaur Bhangu, Camille Runke: all murdered at their workplaces by their partners… the list goes on. Domestic homicides or murder by an intimate partner represents 17% of all solved homicides in Canada and 47% of all family homicides.

“How many more victims will be added to the list? What do we need to do to ensure we, as a society, are able to protect those who need it the most? What do we need to do to be considered a priority?”

Harmy Mendoza, Executive Director of WomanACT, fully support amendments proposed to Bill 148 and hope these amendments can eventually become law.
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Click here to read Bill 148.

​By Gabrielle Provencher, Social Media Volunteer at WomanACT

Stop by City Hall today to see the Roadshow, focusing onbringing awareness and encouraging dialogue about the problem of sexual assault!

The Roadshow is a pop-up participatory art gallery in a shipping container.The retrofitted, glass fronted container will travel on a flat bed truck to 15 cities in Ontario over a three year period. At each stop, local artists will work with anti-violence experts and community participants to create, curate and exhibit art that “talks back” to sexual assault. 
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Recently, there has been unprecedented dialogue and awareness about the crime and sexual violence generally. The Roadshow serves as work space and an exhibition site for multiple art forms that will further that dialogue in creative, community based and transformative ways. 

Toronto artists Mosa McNeilly and Apanaki Temitayo Minerve will conduct scheduled workshops from September 11th to the 18th, and provide opportunities for passersby in Nathan Phillips Square to get involved.  Art created in Roadshow stops in Toronto, Oshweken and Hamilton will be on display inside the container. 

The Roadshow is a project by sexual assault activist Jane Doe and artist/activist Lillian Allen. It is funded by the Ontario Arts Council and sponsored by VTape, the source for video and new media. It is also committed to working with Indigenous, Black, racicalized, Trans, gender non-conforming and other artists and participants disproportionately affected by sexual violence.

Will you be stopping by to visit the roadshow? Share your pics with us on Facebook if you do! 

By Gabrielle Provencher, Social Media Volunteer at WomanACT

York University has recently completed a survey with undergraduate students about their knowledge around sexual assault policy, procedure and response on campus. This initiative is part of the ‘Silence is Violence’ movement which aims to radically alter the culture of institutional violence on university campuses across Canada.
 
The survey has been completed by 406 students from the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (LAPS) during the winter semester of 2016. Shockingly, the survey has found undergraduate students unaware of sexual assault resources on their campus. Indeed, 88% of respondents indicated they have received information about sexual assault at York while 78% report they do not know where to seek further information on the topic.

Furthermore, the findings also raised concerns about greater risk of victimization for visible minorities. One participant expressed his/her opinion on the fact that institutional responses to sexual assault could be “counter-productive” and lead to “racial profiling” leading to a false sense of security on campus when it comes to reporting.
 
Following the study, Silence is Violence concluded that these findings demonstrate the need for an intersectional strategy to identify and respond to safety needs of a diverse undergraduate student population.

Download the full report here
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Download the 1 page graphic here
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