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Results: 46 - 60 of 139
Alex Kamarotos
View Alex Kamarotos Profile
Alex Kamarotos
2021-03-11 15:44
Good afternoon.
Let me first of all thank you warmly for the invitation to Defence for Children International. I'll start with a few words about the organization. I think we are the only non-Canadians here.
Defence for Children International is a leading child rights-focused and membership-based grassroots movement and is currently composed of 35 national sections across five continents. It was created in 1979, the International Year of the Child, in Geneva, Switzerland.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet Jeria, reported the following at the current session of the UN Human Rights Council here in Geneva:
Much of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been exacerbated by a failure to address previously existing structural causes of inequality, social exclusion and deprivation, and the inability of many countries, rich and poor alike, to meet the basic needs of a sizeable proportion of their populations.
This is equally applicable to children and the rights of the child, in particular during this pandemic. DCI has had the chance to count on some very relevant experience from such other health emergencies as the 2015 Ebola emergency in west Africa, where DCI-Sierra Leone and DCI-Liberia were particularly involved. In February 2020, the international secretariat and the entire movement mobilized in front of this pandemic. We very quickly gave alerts regarding the risk of violations exacerbated by the pandemic or even created by mitigation measures taken by states.
In my intervention, in complementarity with your earlier hearings, I want to touch upon two issues related to children. The first one concerns the impact of the pandemic on violence against children, including gender-based violence. The second is the impact on access to justice, in particular for children deprived of liberty. That touches upon the issue we just heard.
UNICEF reports that violence prevention and response services have been disrupted in 104 countries during the COVID pandemic. I believe we still only see the top of the iceberg regarding the impact of the COVID pandemic on violence against children, but it seems to be already well documented that COVID-19 and some of the mitigation measures taken by the governments have increased the exposure of children to different forms of violence, exacerbating such human rights violations as stigmatization, discrimination and xenophobia; child labour and unpaid work; child pregnancy; and harmful acts that include child marriage and female genital mutilation, as well as online abuse, bullying and exploitation. As the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children emphasized in her report to the UN Human Rights Council earlier this week, “What began as a health crisis risks evolving into a broader child-rights crisis.”
I also want to share our experience and results in the area of justice for children, in particular children deprived of liberty. DCI has been part of the origin—we are currently the co-chair together with Human Rights Watch—of a wide civil society coalition on children deprived of liberty. The NGO Panel for the Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty is composed of 170 civil society organizations worldwide. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet Jeria, has urged authorities since the beginning of the pandemic to look at releasing detainees and in particular low-risk child offenders. UNICEF data indicate that at least 31 countries have released children from detention because of concerns about the spread of COVID-19. This is certainly insufficient, and even lower than the number of adult detainees released.
Honourable members, I cannot finish this very short and certainly incomplete presentation without speaking about the impact of COVID-19 measures on the mental health of children and the importance of ensuring the meaningful participation of children on mitigation measures that concern them. Last year DCI organized child- and youth-led online debates on the impacts of COVID-19. We had very, very concrete results.
We also participated, together with a great number of other civil society organizations, in #CovidUnder19, an initiative to meaningfully involve children in responses to the pandemic, with participation from more than 26,000 children from 137 countries.
I want to quote from two of the children who participated in the initiative. The first one comes from a Bolivian girl: “I think the government should understand that children are not dumb and easily manipulated. Children should feel that trust and not feel like they have to remain silent. This would increase their confidence and [motivate them] to report injustice.”
Last but not least, a 16-year-old Canadian girl said, “Even though there is a pandemic going on, there are people out there who experience abuse daily. The awareness, even in Canada, on how to access the resources is not explained in the best way. Finding that information should be basic knowledge for any human being.”
I thank you.
View Andréanne Larouche Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I want to thank the minister and the other witnesses for being here today to talk about investments that may help women. At least, that's our hope.
During the pandemic, more women lost their jobs, particularly because they held precarious jobs. They also lost their jobs because they had to make the choice to stay home and take care of their families. We saw these realities during the pandemic.
There's also the whole issue of violence. Almost 10% of women feared being victims of violence in the home during the pandemic. In Quebec, there were five femicides in two months. Five women have already died. I'm saying this because this figure hurts. It's unacceptable in 2021.
You also spoke about senior women. They ended up isolated and alone at home. They may not have lost their jobs, but they have been hit hard by the increase in grocery costs, rent and COVID-19 taxes. All the costs have increased for these senior women, but their purchasing power hasn't increased. They had to make difficult choices at the end of the month: housing, food or medication.
You also referred to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada's report from 50 years ago. Even then, there was talk about the importance of pay equity for women and the importance of achieving it. Legislation was passed in Parliament. We look forward to women being able to experience this equity. We look forward to the government setting an example.
These are only a few issues that have come to light as a result of the pandemic.
I want to address the supplementary estimates. Money is needed to help women. One thing that stands out in this analysis is the fact that $8.7 million set aside for women wasn't spent before the end of last year, or between March and December 2020. The amount is being carried forward in the estimates.
Why weren't we able to spend the $8.7 million?
It seems that the needs were there. Quebec may have known what to do with it, especially in cases of domestic violence.
View Maryam Monsef Profile
Lib. (ON)
Forgive me. Let me try that again.
Madam Larouche, I want to acknowledge that Quebeckers are mourning. More than half of the deaths due to COVID in Canada have been Quebeckers. The whole country mourns with you.
You're also right in that the rates of violence have gone up and that our partnership with Quebec has been instrumental in providing supports to front-line organizations. There is $17.46 million in emergency COVID funds specifically focused on addressing gender-based violence that has gone directly to the Government of Quebec, and they have deployed those dollars to the front line. We're doing that work.
You also made mention of our elders and how they have been harmed. Increases in OAS and GIS have supported our elders. Supports for front-line organizations in the community to be able to better support them have also been part of our priority.
You asked about the funding that my team has been rolling out to the front line. I will perhaps ask my wonderful deputy minister, Guylaine Roy, to respond to that aspect of your question.
View Lindsay Mathyssen Profile
NDP (ON)
Thank you.
Minister, going back to your mandate letter, it also says that the Prime Minister expects you to “drive systemic change that promotes a fairer and more productive society for women by improving quality of life, advancing leadership and addressing gender-based violence.”
Do you believe it's your role as the minister to address those systemic barriers that women face when it comes to being heard, believed and trusted when they come forward to say they have been a target of gender-based violence, even if it's in our armed forces, and even when it's a cabinet colleague who ignores them?
View Maryam Monsef Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Chair, it is the responsibility of every single one of us to ensure that survivors are heard and that they have the supports they need when they have the courage to come forward. Absolutely I take my responsibility seriously. I'm also fortunate that I'm not the only one around the table who takes on that burden. It is up to all of us.
My colleague referred to the armed forces and the troubling allegations that continue to come forward. If I may, Madam Chair, let me thank every single survivor who has the courage to step up and to share her story. These silence breakers have the ability to give courage to those who are suffering in silence.
Our government is determined to improve the processes so that it's not a matter of confidentiality or lack of trust in these organizations that prevent more victims from coming forward and that we create spaces and institutions and workplaces where all women and non-binary folks can feel safe and that they belong.
View Nelly Shin Profile
CPC (BC)
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you for being here, Minister. I appreciate your willingness to hear questions.
Minister, in the Prime Minister's mandate letter to you, he asked you to “develop a National Action Plan on Gender-Based Violence, with a focus on ensuring that anyone facing gender-based violence has reliable and timely access to protection and services”. As you know, the pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing gaps of assistance toward women. Because of lockdowns, women facing domestic violence are challenged in regard to their exits. It's been a year since the pandemic lockdown. How are Canadian women safer today than a year ago?
On that note, how are indigenous women and girls safer today than a year ago? You haven't released an action plan in response to the report. I asked you this question at committee in July of last year. How are they safer today? What is the process you're in right now in response to that?
In addition to this list of questions, my concern right now is the culture of gaslighting women, which I'm not very happy with. I know we want to counter that, but when you have the Minister of Defence abdicating, and the government covering up for that, to me that is treating the trauma of these women as just invisible. You can say all the nice things and show solidarity through words, but if there's no action.... Then we have these hotel quarantine situations with sexual assaults.
I mean, it's not a safe place right now. It needs to be safer. Can the minister commit to these points and share with us today what has actually been done to make Canada a safer place for women a year after the lockdown?
View Maryam Monsef Profile
Lib. (ON)
MP Shin, I share your frustration, and I want to assure you that in the past five years, more has been done to create greater safety and support for Canadian women than in, I would say, decades, probably not since the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Because of just my own government department, not the whole government but just my own, six million Canadians received supports and care—
View Nelly Shin Profile
CPC (BC)
—but if these women continue to face the fear of sexual assault and actually experience it, and you have a defence minister who keeps covering up, and a Prime Minister who keeps covering up, this is not good for our country.
I really, really wish, and I will pray, that you will continue to receive the wisdom to deal with this so that we all feel safe.
View Maryam Monsef Profile
Lib. (ON)
MP Shin, there is no cover-up. If anything, we're out there talking openly about the processes that need to be improved. We're out there sharing data about the increases in gender-based violence. We're working on a national action plan on gender-based violence, which can only move forward with provinces and territories.
View Nelly Shin Profile
CPC (BC)
It's been a year since the lockdown and I don't think women are safer.
We're reading these things in the headlines and we've passed—
View Andréanne Larouche Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'll go back to the question that I was about to ask the minister when my first comments were interrupted.
I'll continue with this analytical mindset. In the main estimates, we can see that the amount allocated in 2021-22 is even lower than the amount allocated last year before the supplementary estimates.
In the department, do people really think that the crisis or the feminist recovery will generate fewer resources than last year? I'm trying to get a handle on the figure.
How will the money be allocated to Quebec and the provinces? We know that Quebec and the provinces are already running programs. They need transfers. How will the money be transferred?
You spoke about the national action plan and said that you wanted to address violence. You said that you spent two days with women. Will more money be needed to implement this plan? Is there a target date and are there examples of these measures? Could these measures have prevented the assaults that we've seen in the military or during the quarantines?
View Jag Sahota Profile
CPC (AB)
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister, I'm going to build on what my colleague MP Shin had asked you. I'm going to give you some statistics.
One in three women and girls in Canada will face some sort of gender-based violence in their lifetime. That is 6,373,323 women and girls.
At your last appearance here at the committee, when you appeared for main estimates, you refused to answer my question about when we would see the national action plan to address gender-based violence. Our allies such as Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Norway and the United Kingdom have all developed national action plans, and in some cases, are already working on versions two and three.
You've been giving a lot of fluffy answers, but fluffy answers don't solve the problems. Actions do, and we do not have a national action plan from you. You're sitting here and telling us that you're protecting women, that you're defending women, that you're standing up for women, yet there's no action plan.
Can you tell me when that action plan is coming and how, by not having that, you're protecting and standing up for women?
View Maryam Monsef Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Chair, our federal strategy to address and prevent gender-based violence was the first of its kind, so Canada is moving to phase two of its plan to address and prevent gender-based violence with a national action plan.
The last time I was here, I shared with this committee that we have to speak with our provincial and territorial counterparts. We did that, and we are moving forward. I encourage my colleague to look at the record of decision that came from that meeting.
When we put forward that federal strategy on gender-based violence, the Conservative Party of Canada voted against it. I am hopeful that this time the Conservative Party of Canada will support our measures to ensure that every woman is safe.
Mélanie Lemay
View Mélanie Lemay Profile
Mélanie Lemay
2021-02-16 11:14
Good morning, dear members.
It's with great pleasure that I appear before you.
My name is Mélanie Lemay. I'm the co-founder of Québec contre les violences sexuelles, a movement I launched with Ariane Litalien and Kimberley Marin. We have succeeded in getting framework legislation passed in CEGEPs and universities throughout Quebec.
Since the wave of #MeToo, we have been very involved in changing awareness about sexual violence.
Given our many experiences, it seems obvious to us that it is necessary to improve at all costs the tools available to victim-survivors to flee violence or denounce it. It is essential to expand the models. Although we are testifying today in favour of adding the notion of coercive control to the Criminal Code, the fact remains that, in its very essence, criminal law too often challenges our experience and our reality. Since it is essentially focused on the rights of the accused, we are only witnesses. By dispossessing us of our histories, the criminal law reproduces power relations that already exist in our society.
In the position I find myself in today, I salute your courage and willingness to dwell on this difficult issue. However, I invite you to look further, to think about ways to innovate, beyond a rigid box that locks us up and forces us into compartments that don't fit our real needs.
This summer, we organized a march in Montreal. This event encouraged many people to unite their voices to demand concrete changes. We must stop the continuation of violence from one generation to the next. This truth is widely accepted in a society that claims to be egalitarian. Yet, in reality, we have been the target of several groups of violent men who wanted to silence us with the possibility of an attack. A battering ram car actually arrived on the scene threatening to attack the crowd. Throughout the day, we had to face men who came to shout their anger in our faces, under the amused gaze of the policemen. We had received online threats, but because they weren't in a form recognized in the Criminal Code, the police abandoned us. Luckily, we had taken care of ourselves and our own safety, and there were no tragedies that day, unlike at other events in the past.
However, we have remained marked by society's indifference to the personal sacrifices we make since we must continually advocate for this cause.
Today, I am speaking to you, but thousands of others did so yesterday and, if nothing changes, there will be just as many tomorrow. So I'm speaking to you with the sincere hope that this will be the beginning of a long dialogue on best practices. Here, in these unceded lands, ideas, expertise and proposals abound and are the stuff of international dreams.
I hope to see you unite as the various political parties in Quebec have done, by creating a transparent committee of experts who bring the realities on the ground to the decision-making table. From this committee, a report was born. I have the honour of being accompanied by Simon Lapierre, full professor at the University of Ottawa's School of Social Work, who was a member of this committee of experts.
This ability to unite and see beyond partisanship is a model and an inspiration. What we, as survivors of domestic and sexual violence, most sincerely wish for is a system that focuses on our rights and needs, in order to develop a real sense of justice free of victimization.
There is even a need to create a whole new area of law focusing on gender-based violence. In this regard, we could draw on the knowledge of First Nations and Black communities, who have long reflected on these issues. They have expertise that deserves to be heard within these walls. This would certainly create a more just and equitable world for all. In addition to being adapted to the realities of our gender, a form of law like this would allow for the inclusion of the violence suffered by LGBTQ+ communities.
I'll now turn things over to my colleague, who will return to the main topic on the agenda.
Genevieve Isshak
View Genevieve Isshak Profile
Genevieve Isshak
2021-02-04 11:18
Thank you, everyone.
As the clinical director of residential and community services at Hiatus House in Windsor-Essex, Ontario, I really appreciate the opportunity to speak with all of you with respect to Bill C-247.
Our mission at Hiatus House is to break the cycle of domestic violence, one family at a time, by providing 24-hour crisis help and emergency shelter to abused women and their children. This is combined with public education, research and specialized counselling services for all family members impacted by domestic violence.
We know that one in four women have reported that they have experienced domestic violence. Because this does not include the unreported instances, we believe this number is closer to one in three, which is similar to what the World Health Organization reports worldwide. Keeping these numbers in mind, I would like to ask you to just consider how many of you know or have known of a family member, neighbour, co-worker or friend who has experienced domestic violence. Should one of these women in your life ever need assistance, Hiatus House is the only shelter for women experiencing domestic violence in Windsor-Essex.
Amidst the current pandemic, we know that survivors of gender-based violence are most at risk of violence in their own homes. We know that the most common location of abuse for women and their children is in their homes. We hear the necessary pandemic messaging that staying home is staying safe, but what happens when home isn’t a safe place to begin with? Being coerced to stay home results in people feeling even more isolated and leaves little opportunity for escaping their abuser and finding safety.
Abusive partners use isolation—both physical and psychological—as a means to control their partner’s contact with friends and family to emotionally bind the partner to them with the shackles of fear, dependency and coercive tactics of control.
We know that the risk to women in abusive relationships is dynamic and that these women are subject to isolation, emotional and psychological abuse and controlling acts of violence. This abuse invariably escalates over time. These abusive behaviours are intended to cause fear and gain power and control over a woman’s thoughts, beliefs and actions. Controlling another person’s thoughts, beliefs and actions does not require specific overt acts of violence, although those acts certainly may be occurring as well.
As such, the bill will help keep women safe and hold abusive partners accountable for their violence, whether that is an overt act of violence or the type of emotional and psychological abuse that is most common in the intimate abusive relationships that I have just detailed.
Our interest in the bill is focused on the safety of women who are subjected to gender-based violence including intimate partner abuse, and the eradication of all forms of gender-based violence. We are grateful for the possibilities that the bill offers and commend MP Garrison for his initiative in bringing this critical piece of legislation forward.
As you are all well aware, the question of finding the most appropriate criminal response to intimate partner abuse has challenged the violence against women movement, politicians, policy-makers and shelters for decades. While we think Bill C-247 offers important ideas, we believe it is imperative to also take the time for a fulsome and inclusive discussion about integrated legal responses before committing to just one approach.
We believe that the national action plan on violence against women currently in development is important to consider. Such an inclusive discussion would ensure that unintended negative consequences as well as possible benefits—of any law or policy reform—are carefully considered and appropriate and adequate resources are put into place to support those reforms. We urge you to create space for these diverse voices when the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights examines this bill.
We also offer our input at any time it may be helpful. Our expertise and experience over many decades of working with women with diverse experiences of violence has taught us much in the implementation. We concur with the intent of the bill and value its genesis in the context of COVID-19-related surges in intimate partner violence.
With that, I thank this committee for inviting my opinion on behalf of Hiatus House today. I hope that you will consider providing careful study and adequate resources to effectively and appropriately implement the bill and allow it to accomplish its well-intended goals.
An end to violence against women and their children in Windsor and Essex County and across all of Canada—creating a life where all family members are empowered to live violence-free—is our vision for the future.
Thank you,
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