November 25 – December 10 marks the 16 Days of Action Against Gender-Based Violence. This global campaign unites us in the fight to end violence against women, girls, and gender-diverse people. This is not just a call for awareness – it is a call for urgent action.
Gender-based violence (GBV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) are pervasive, systemic, and deadly. Every community across Ontario is impacted. Every 48 hours in Canada, a woman or girl is killed in an act of gender-based violence. Indigenous women, racialized women, women with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people face disproportionate risks. Yet the Ontario government continues to refuse to declare IPV an epidemic, despite the clear evidence that this is a public health and safety crisis.
Economic security is safety. Survivors of IPV and GBV often experience economic abuse in the form of wage suppression, job loss, forced dependency, and restrictions on work. Pay inequity and precarious work deepen vulnerability to violence. Intersectional pay gaps for racialized, Indigenous, immigrant, disabled, and gender-diverse women make them even more at risk.
That’s why the Ontario Federation of Labour is calling on all Ontarians to support MPP Alexa Gilmour’s motion on Women’s Economic Security and the Women in the Workforce Plan (Phase 1): Economic Security is Safety. This plan recognizes that pay equity, fair wages, and economic stability are not just labour issues. They are violence prevention strategies. Stronger enforcement of pay equity, pay transparency, and equitable access to decent work will reduce dependency and the power imbalances that abusers exploit.
We demand:
- Stable, trauma-informed, culturally safe, and accessible supports for survivors across all communities.
- Provincial ministries to break down silos, unite their priorities, and commit to clear accountability with a bold, coordinated prevention framework that puts survivors first.
- Justice systems must step up by prioritizing survivor safety with comprehensive training, robust risk assessments, and enforcement that holds abusers accountable.
- Intersectional voices leading solutions, especially equity deserving voices and rural and Indigenous communities.
- Immediate action to address IPV and GBV as the public health and safety crisis they are.
Violence against women and gender-diverse people is rooted in systemic discrimination, economic inequality, and underfunded social infrastructure. Ending it requires bold, coordinated action.
Join us. Speak out. Take action. Support Alexa Gilmour’s motion. Economic security is safety. Together, we can build a province where women and gender-diverse people live and work free from violence.
Join us at Queen’s Park tomorrow to send a clear message to the Ford government that survivors, families, and frontline workers are worth fighting for!
