#nlwomenrising

For Immediate Release: PANSOW expresses disappointment at lack of government consultation

rebekah · October 19, 2017 ·

For Immediate Release

October 19, 2017

PANSOW expresses disappointment at lack of government consultation

Following the In Her Name Vigil for missing and murdered women and girls of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Provincial Action Network on the Status of Women (PANSOW) and a coalition of anti-violence groups called for the establishment of a Provincial Task Force on Gender-Based Violence. This week the Provincial Government announced the formation of a Minister’s Committee on Violence Against Women and Girls. PANSOW is expressing disappointment in this approach.

PANSOW and its community partners called for the establishment of a task force to oversee the implementation of a comprehensive, provincial plan to end domestic violence, and all violence, against women and girls. The Minister’s Committee on Violence Against Women and girls will be comprised of government and community representatives; membership is by invitation only.

Jenny Wright, PANSOW Co-Chair and Executive Director of the St. John’s Status of Women Council:

“The way in which the government has established this committee circumvents the work of a coalition of anti-violence and domestic violence experts. The government did not acknowledge PANSOW’s request or engage in any consultation on the matter. Telling organizations to wait for an invitation is not a consultation.”

PANSOW had asked women-serving anti-violence organizations to join the call for a provincial task force and had responses from organizations across the province.

Janice Kennedy, PANSOW Co-Chair and Executive Director, Bay St. George Status of Women Council:

“The shift from a task force informed and led by anti-violence experts to an invitation-only committee is disappointing. Consulting with those who issued the call for a task force on gender-based violence should be an imperative for this government.”

PANSOW is calling on Minister Parsons to halt the further development of this committee until his department has met with the organization and its partners.

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Media Contact

Janice Kennedy

PANSOW, Co-Chair

Executive Director, Bay St. George Status of Women

Tel: 709.643.4444

Email: executivedirector.bsgswc@gmail.com

About PANSOW

The Provincial Action Network of the Status of Women (PANSOW) is a grassroots, feminist, and non-partisan network which gives a provincial voice on the issues facing the Status of Women in Newfoundland and Labrador. PANSOW consists of all eight Status of Women Councils in Newfoundland and Labrador.

For Immediate Release: PANSOW Issues Call for a Provincial Task Force on Gender Based Violence

rebekah · October 6, 2017 ·

For Immediate Release

October 6, 2017

PANSOW Issues Call for a Provincial Task Force on Gender Based Violence

Following the In Her Name Vigil for missing and murdered women and girls of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Provincial Action Network on the Status of Women (PANSOW) and a coalition of anti-violence groups are calling for the establishment of a Provincial Task Force on Gender-Based Violence. The goal of this task force would be to oversee the implementation of a comprehensive, provincial plan to end domestic violence, and all violence, against women and girls.

The organizations joining PANSOW in calling for this task force include: Transition House Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s Native Friendship Centre, Newfoundland and Labrador Sexual Assault Crisis and Prevention Centre, Violence Prevention – Avalon East, and Violence Prevention – West.

This task force must contain representation from the provincial Departments of Justice and Public Safety, Education and Early Childhood Development, Health and Community Services, Children, Seniors and Social Development, and the Status of Women, survivors of domestic violence, and women-serving anti-violence organizations.

Jenny Wright, PANSOW Co-Chair and Executive Director of the St. John’s Status of Women Council:

“This needs to be the moment in our history, where we agree as a people that the levels of violence experienced by women and girls is simply no longer acceptable to us, that what we have been doing is failing women, and that, we choose another path. That path is a task force on gender violence.”

Newfoundland and Labrador has among the highest rates of domestic violence in the country. It is one of the few provinces where domestic violence is on the rise. Sadly, the rate of domestic violence is likely much higher than we know; 70 per cent of spousal violence is not reported to the police. Of the 217,900 women over the age of 15 residing in Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately 108,950 (one in two) will experience at least one incident of sexual or physical violence throughout their lifetime. Approximately 10 per cent (10,895) of these women will actually report this victimization to police.

Janice Kennedy, PANSOW Co-Chair and Executive Director, Bay St. George Status of Women Council:

“The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador must form an immediate task force to address the high and unacceptable rates of gender-based violence in this province. Too many women are missing or have already died and many more are at risk. We demand the task force bring together government and community stakeholders to implement systemic and legislative changes that improve the safety and lives of women and children throughout the province. Every citizen of this province deserves the right to live in peace and safety in their homes, and their communities.”

PANSOW is asking other women-serving anti-violence organizations to join this call for a provincial task force. If your organization would like to sign on, please contact Jenny Wright, Executive Director of the St. John’s Status of Women Council and Co-Chair, PANSOW.

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Media Contact

Jenny Wright

Executive Director

St. John’s Status of Women Council/Women’s Centre

Tel. 709.753.0220

jenny@sjwomenscentre.ca

Janice Kennedy

Executive Director BSG Status of Women

PANSOW, Co-Chair

Tel: 709.643.4444

executivedirector.bsgswc@gmail.com

About PANSOW

The Provincial Action Network of the Status of Women (PANSOW) is a grassroots, feminist, and non-partisan network which gives a provincial voice on the issues facing the Status of Women in Newfoundland and Labrador. PANSOW consist of all eight Status of Women Council in Newfoundland and Labrador

SJSWC Launches Membership Drive Campaign

rebekah · July 10, 2017 ·

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

July 6, 2017

SJSWC Launches Membership Drive Campaign

St. John’s, NL – The St. John’s Status of Women Council is the oldest, member-owned women’s centre in Canada. Today, they launch a new campaign inviting all people who feel passionately about issues such as wage parity, accessible childcare, gender balance in leadership, anti-violence work, sex worker rights, and feminism to become members.

Jenny Wright, Executive Director of the St. John’s Status of Women Council:

“I am so excited to launch this campaign as it will allow us to connect directly with people in our community who want to lend their voice, their skills, and their passion to the the daily work of advancing women’s rights. We welcome everyone who shares our guiding principles to become a member, and I especially encourage people who have wondered how they could get involved or who want to stay up to date on opportunites for activism to join us now.”

Becoming a member of the SJSOWC allows you to take an active role in the fight for equality, rights, and justice in Newfoundland and Labrador. Members will be provided with opportunities to join the SJSOWC at events, take part in training opportunities, contribute their expertise or time, contribute to policy positions, and help support and spread awareness of causes and campaigns.

Annual memberships range in cost from $20 to $5. Both individuals and groups are invited to apply for membership at https://sjwomenscentre.ca/join/

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Media Contact:
Jenny Wright, Executive Director, SJSWC

jenny@sjwomenscentre.ca

The St. John’s Status of Women Council/Women’s Centre is a feminist organization that since 1972 is continually working to achieve equality and justice through political activism, community collaboration and the creation of a safe and inclusive space for all women in the St. John’s area. Today, the SJSOWC operates The Women’s Centre, Marguerites Place Supportive Housing Program, and Safe Harbour Outreach Project. It recently launched Right Here, Right Now, an innovative mental health initiative that provides walk-in counselling for all women.

FemFestNL 2.0 Call for Submissions

rebekah · June 26, 2017 ·

FemFestNL 2.0 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

FemFestNL is a festival of all things feminist, including concerts, film screenings, readings – to be held in downtown St. John’s. We are asking you to help shape the conference through a call for submissions!

When: August 11^th to 13^th, 2017

Where: The Space, Harbour Drive, St. John’s

Who we are: A committee of feminist organizations, students and activists who are organizing FemFest NL – a feminist conference to take place in St. John’s. It will be carried out from August 11^th-13^th, 2017 with a two-day forum (August 12^th and 13^th) with panel discussions and lectures, to happen at The Space.

FemFestNL prioritizes the voice and experience of women in our community. We welcome submissions from all women (trans, intersex, cis, 2S) and all those who experience gendered oppression (including non-binary and gender non-conforming people) and all those who identify as women for the purpose of political organizing.

FemFestNL events are open to everyone.

For this conference, will be accepting proposals for panel discussions, workshops, and interactive sessions based around feminist organizing, community activism and political action in Newfoundland and Labrador. We want to know how our community does direct political action, how they work to create community solidarity and how we can share these skills with each other.

What we would like from you: Your name and organization (if affiliated) with short two sentence bios, proposed topic, session type (panel, TED Talk, workshop, roundtable, etc.), and length of session, how many presenters (and their names and short bios if already planned).

We are prioritizing submissions focused on Feminist activism:

Direct action
Political action
Community solidarity
Allyship

Submissions open from June 24^th to July 15^th, 2017 (12 pm NL standard time)
Please submit to: nlfemfest@gmail.com

For Immediate Release: The St. John’s Status of Women Council implements Domestic Violence Leave Policy

rebekah · May 29, 2017 ·

For Immediate Release

May 29^th, 2017

St. John’s, NL

The St. John’s Status of Women Council implements Domestic Violence Leave Policy

The St. John’s Status of Women Council (SJSOWC) has created and implemented a Domestic Violence Leave Policy within their organization and encourages public, private business and community organizations to adopt a similar policy.

According to the Canadian Labour Congress report, Domestic Violence at Work, “Over 80 percent of domestic violence victims report that their work performance was negatively affected. Absenteeism and poor work performance can leave victims vulnerable to discipline, and some even lose their jobs.”

The SJSOWC is also working with the NL Federation of Labour to create change at a provincial level, advocating for Domestic Violence Leave Legislation in Newfoundland and Labrador which would provide paid leave for employees experiencing domestic violence through amendments to Labour and Employment standards legislation.

Jenny Wright, Executive Director of the St John’s Status of Women Council:

“I am very encouraged that we will have domestic violence legislation in our province soon. In the interim, community organizations and business can easily adopt their own in house policy to protect their employees who are experiencing or fleeing domestic violence. And, we are here to help.”

The SJSOWC Domestic Violence Leave Policy provides 3 days paid leave, for employees experiencing domestic violence which can be taken at once or in increments to attend to legal, health, housing and childcare needs.

Mary Shortall, President of the NL Federation of Labour and Chair of the SJSOWC:

“This is a very important issue for our members. Domestic Violence at work impacts workers and employers. While we work with our affiliates to address this issue at the bargaining table, we are also working closely with our partners in the broader community so that all workers can have the legislative protection they need when domestic violence comes to the workplace.”

Media contact:

Jenny Wright, Executive Director, St. John’s Status of Women Council

jenny@sjwomenscentre.ca

Mary Shortall, President, Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour

mshortall@nlfl.nf.ca

The Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour (NLFL) represents 25 affiliated unions, 500 union locals and 65,000 working women and men in every sector of our economy, in every community in our Province.

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For Immediate Release: PANSOW expresses disappointment at lack of government consultation

For Immediate Release: PANSOW Issues Call for a Provincial Task Force on Gender Based Violence

SJSWC Launches Membership Drive Campaign

FemFestNL 2.0 Call for Submissions

For Immediate Release: The St. John’s Status of Women Council implements Domestic Violence Leave Policy

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