Department of Justice’s Post

We mourn and are saddened by the loss of Brkti Berhe, a fierce community leader and mother whose life was tragically cut short due to femicide on October 24th. Violence has no boundaries. The violent senseless killing of women and gender diverse people must end. As an organization dedicated to ending gender-based violence, we recognize that femicide is not a new crisis but a devastating reality that has affected Ottawa for decades. The recent media coverage of femicide highlights only a fraction of the years of advocacy and calls for action by frontline organizations and survivors, demanding accountability, justice, and prevention-focused solutions. Femicide is deeply rooted in gender-based violence, compounded by systemic inequalities that disproportionately affect Indigenous, Black, and racialized women. For far too long, the voices of those most impacted have been overshadowed in policy discussions, leaving racialized survivors to bear the compounded weight of racism and misogyny. As advocates, we call for an anti-racist, intersectional approach that acknowledges the unique challenges these communities face and prioritizes culturally responsive support systems. The time to address this crisis is now, with a collective commitment to ending the cycle of violence and building a society where all women and gender-diverse individuals can live free from the threat of violence.

We've been working with Saturviit, an Indigenous Woman's Organization that supports close to 7000 women in 13 Inuit Communites, over the past 5 months, educating and providing guidance in the implementation of a Women's Violence Prevention Program. Focusing on behavioral awreness and the cycle of violence many Indigenous Women face, as well as a high focus on Situational Awareness, Environmental Awareness and the complexity surrounding the Family Dynamics of Violence. Saturviit is excited to begin the introduction of this program and start creating a cultural change and a new cultural acceptance. https://lnkd.in/gBmBNCs

5 Practical Allyship Action Steps to Support Marginalized Communities

This is another great episode from Mark Horvath as he and Amanda Andere explore one of the most important root causes for homelessness. It's a must watch!

In a world that often tries to define us by our struggles, it’s crucial to remember that our identity is not rooted in victimhood. While systemic injustices and inequalities are real and must be addressed, embracing a mindset of perpetual victimhood can be limiting and disempowering. Victimhood is a product—a narrative sold to us by societal structures, media, and even well-meaning advocates. But it’s a product minorities shouldn’t buy. Why? Because it shifts the focus from our resilience, strength, and potential to a story of helplessness and dependency. It robs us of the power to define our own narratives and to rise above the challenges we face. History has shown us time and time again that marginalized communities are not defined by their oppression but by their ability to overcome it. From civil rights movements to cultural revolutions, minorities have consistently proven that resilience and determination can dismantle even the most entrenched systems of inequality. Instead of buying into victimhood, let’s invest in empowerment. Let’s celebrate our achievements, amplify our voices, and build communities that uplift one another. Let’s focus on education, entrepreneurship, and leadership to create lasting change. Victimhood may be offered to us, but we have the power to reject it and choose a narrative of strength, hope, and progress. The road to equality is long, but it’s one we walk together—not as victims, but as victors in the making. #EmpowermentOverVictimhood #Resilience #MinorityStrength #OwnYourNarrative #BreakTheCycle #RiseAbove #CommunityUplift #ProgressNotPity #StrengthInStruggle #BeTheChange

YWCA Kalamazoo held its annual Human Trafficking Awareness Month event this week! In the midst of all this anti-equity policy and rhetoric, let’s remember that human trafficking happens *because* of power imbalances. Exploitation thrives not in poverty, but in communities with high wealth disparity - where poverty and wealth are side by side. Why? Because wealth disparities signify broader systemic inequality, where powerful people have few guardrails and immediate access to people with far fewer protections. It takes power to exploit someone, often a network of power. We cannot talk about ending human trafficking in earnest without also talking about the pursuit of equity. There is a strange cognitive dissonance happening politically where people feel so passionately about ending human (sex) trafficking while also wanting to ban equity work. It’s like saying you care deeply about whales but want to do away with water. This administration’s extreme efforts to expand power disparities WILL result in increased human trafficking. And for providers like YWCA Kalamazoo, we will be there - now perhaps without federal funding - to support more and more survivors to find safety and healing from their exploitation. Thank you to the YWCA victim services team for the extraordinary impact you’ve had over this last year. Proud to be on your team.

Today, we join the global community in confronting a stark and painful reality: countless women and children across the Caribbean and beyond live each day in fear, silenced by violence and oppression. Their suffering is not just a personal tragedy; it is a systemic failure – one that calls for immediate and decisive action. This year’s theme, Unite to End Violence Against Women and Children, is both a rallying cry and a call to conscience. Violence against women is not an inevitability; it is a preventable injustice. It persists in the shadows of patriarchy, inequality, and impunity, but it doesn’t have to. Together, we can and must dismantle these systems of harm. Click on link for more...

This 16 Days of Activism, WAGEC calls on our community to come together and stand against violence. Over the next two weeks, we’ll be sharing resources to equip our community with the skills and knowledge to recognise, safely respond to and support people who are experiencing gender-based violence. The first step in standing against violence is to recognise it and acknowledge that it doesn’t impact everyone equally. Gender-based violence can impact people of all nationalities, races, religions, social backgrounds and sexualities. However, people belonging to certain groups and communities may experience higher rates of domestic and family violence than others. By learning more about how people belonging to different communities experience gender-based violence, we can be better at responding to it and supporting survivors. You can find resources and information about how to recognise gender-based violence here: https://lnkd.in/ge_EPS2X

I don't post a lot on my personal LI, but an observation has been nagging me: Many organizations have issued a variety of statements in the last few days, many of which involve staying hopeful and keeping the faith. Hope is beautiful, invigorating, and even explicitly useful for progress, but these statements can often feel empty. When people and organizations say, “It will be okay,” the oft-unanswered, implicit question in response is, “Why?” I not only work in reproductive health, but I have spent my entire adult life dedicated to gender and queer liberation, health ethics, accessibility, advocacy, communication, and humanization. In many ways, this election held historic wins for inclusivity, women, and reproductive rights. Sarah McBride became the first openly transgender member of Congress, two Black women–Angela Alsobrooks and Lisa Blunt Rochester–will serve in the Senate at the same time for the first time in history, and by way of ballot measures, abortion rights were enshrined in 7 different state constitutions. Going deeper into ballot measures, what has become abundantly clear is that compassionate policies have support, but somewhere in the focus on party or person politics, policy ideals get lost. Regardless of electoral outcomes, in my home state of #Nevada, 60.5% of voters voted against slavery and involuntary servitude for prisoners, 64% voted to create a constitutional right to abortion, and 65.8% voted to make the language describing people with disabilities more inclusive. This isn’t just one anomalous swing state either: #Missouri voted for paid leave and a constitutional right to abortion, overturning a near-total ban in the state; #Arizona and #Montana voters similarly made abortion a constitutional right; my current home state of #NewYork expanded their #EqualProtectionClause to include protections from discrimination on the basis of “ethnicity, national origin, age, and disability” as well as “sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy,” and the list goes on. All of this to say that we have to believe we all care about each other on some level, or we can't do anything at all. The American people, when policies are written out and explained, have shown support for workers, women, LGBTQ+ people, BIPOC people, and reproductive rights. This is all said not to cast or obfuscate blame, but to illustrate the empathetic and empirical idea that a problem of messaging, candidacies, and misinformation is more feasible, more heartening, and more true to reality than believing that all of your neighbors don't care about you. They do, and all we have is each other. The best time to create community was yesterday, the second best time is today. Reach out to your local mutual aid org, ask local organizers what you can do, BE A GOOD COMMUNITY MEMBER, take your feelings and turn them into tangible action. Let's take care of each other.

Every 10 minutes, a woman loses her life to femicide—a tragic result of gender-based violence that persists globally. These are not just numbers; they are mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends, lost to a system that fails to protect them. This 16 Days of Activism, let us unite to: 💬 Speak out against violence. ⚖️ Demand justice and accountability. 📣 Amplify the voices of survivors. 🧡 Commit to a world where women and girls are safe, valued, and respected. Every life lost is a call for action. #EndGBV #Beijing30 #LeaveNoOneBehind #TogetherForInclusion With The Atlas Alliance World YMCA World YWCA Norad - Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation Norec KFUK-KFUM Global