Task Force to End Gender-Based Violence Sets Early Priorities, Plans Public Engagement

Newfoundland and Labrador’s Task Force to End Gender-Based Violence is moving forward with its initial work, focusing on prevention, public awareness and community engagement as it develops recommendations to address gender-based violence across the province.

The task force, established in May, has met three times and recently held a full-day, in-person meeting to discuss several key issues, including housing-related concerns, the use of electronic monitoring, public awareness campaigns and education initiatives aimed at preventing gender-based violence among youth.

Members also examined opportunities to strengthen prevention and awareness efforts through the province’s new school curriculum, while outlining plans for future consultations with community organizations, stakeholders and individuals with lived experience.

The consultations are expected to help guide the task force’s ongoing work and ensure recommendations reflect the needs and experiences of those most affected by gender-based violence.

During the meeting, members reviewed findings from community engagement sessions and lived-experience focus groups conducted by the Provincial Action Network on the Status of Women following the release of the Seeds of Change report. The sessions gathered feedback from hundreds of survivors and community organizations on priorities for addressing violence and improving supports.

The provincial government said the task force was created to bring together survivors, Indigenous representatives, frontline service providers and government officials to develop a coordinated approach to preventing and responding to gender-based violence.

A key focus of the task force will be ensuring the voices of survivors and others directly impacted by violence are meaningfully included in decision-making and policy development.

The 12-member task force includes community representatives Georgina McGrath, Lisa Brenton-Lake, Dr. Elder Odelle Pike, Elder Charlotte Wolfrey, Stacey Hoffe and Mary Walsh, along with representatives from the departments of Education and Early Childhood Development, Health and Community Services, Justice and Public Safety, Social Supports and Well-Being, the Office of Women and Gender Equality, and the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation.