Blog

Sexualized Violence is Police Brutality

This International Day Against Police Brutality, we are once again demanding accountability from our police. We expect better from the institution charged with working for our safety. We know the police are the coercive arm of the state on this unceded Coast Salish territory and across Turtle Island, and yet we still expect better from […]

Women’s Lives Matter

Speech for International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers by WAVAW Counsellors, Jen Shortt and Jodie Millward As Aboriginal women from other territories, we would like to begin by acknowledging that we are visitors to this Coast Salish Territory and we thank the Musqueam, Squamish & Tsleil-Waututh people for allowing us to be here. […]

You Can Take Action Too!

How can a government be indifferent to public education, to fair working conditions for teachers, to the law and BC Supreme Court rulings? We stand in solidarity with our teachers and all of those who are working to make sure public education a government and societal priority. You can take action too! – Send a […]

Before you Take Action, Check-In With Yourself

Written by Dalya Israel, Manager of Victim Services and Outreach Programs For National Victims of Crime awareness week this year the theme is “Taking Action”. In the Victim Service program at WAVAW we take action in many different ways daily. Our program is responsible for answering the crisis line, accompanying women to the hospital, accompanying […]

False Logic is Bad for Women

Written by Natalie Hill (WAVAW volunteer). Natalie wrote this piece in response to CBC’s radio program, Q,  and their segment titled “does rape culture really exist?”. Natalie submitted this piece to CBC and it was read out loud, along all the other comments by other listeners, on the Q show. “By arguing that women attend […]

Rape Culture in Politics

Speech from the January 29th “Is Rape Culture in Politics?” panel. My name is Irene-Tsepnopoulos-Elhaimer and I am the Executive Director at Women Against Violence Against Women Rape Crisis Centre, WAVAW. I came to feminism by way of my being a student at Concordia in Montreal in 1989 during the Montreal Massacre. This event changed my […]

Thinking Outside the Consent Box

Written by WAVAW Relief Staff, Caity Goerke The recent rape chants at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Saint Mary’s University (SMU) have prompted many public conversations about sexual violence. Specifically, they’ve inspired conversations about consent, many of which seem to assume that widespread misunderstandings about consent are the central issue of concern regarding […]

Is Justice Blind?

 New Research Paper Explores Why Only 4.6% of Sexual Assault Cases Result in Conviction In commemoration of December 6th, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, University of Alberta Law Student Rhyannon O’Heron and Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW) Rape Crisis Centre are officially launching a new research paper titled […]

Our Response to the Vancouver Sun Article

Our response to the “What’s behind UBC student hijinks? Bad behaviour: immaturity or something more” article by Daphne Bramham published in the Vancouver Sun on October 24th 2013. We have submitted this response to the Vancouver Sun as well, but have received no communications from them. UPDATE!!!! A version of this letter was published by […]