Blog

Meet Our Art Therapist – Luisa!

In August I reached out to our community to ask for gently used art supplies to sustain our Art Therapy group – and we have been so touched by how many of you have donated! Today, I want to introduce you to the person who is going to be putting your art supplies in the hands […]

How you can support queer and trans folks this Pride season

Pride is a time of liberation, joy, and expression. However, it has become tightly intertwined with capitalism, consumption, colonialism, and whiteness. It is important to remember that the first Pride was a riot and that if Pride isn’t fighting for the inclusion of the most marginalized members of the queer and trans communities; then it is reproducing many […]

Register for the 2019 Scotiabank Charity Challenge!

Event Overview The Scotiabank Charity Challenge is an annual event, uniting the community with a unique fundraising program. Each year, this Half-Marathon & 5k inspires runners, walkers, families and friends to register and to raise funds for participating charity organizations. This year’s Vancouver Run and Charity Challenge are taking place in on Sunday, June 23, […]

It is time for the anti-violence sector to push back against transmisogyny

In the last week, we have witnessed and experienced an increase of transphobic, transmisogynistic hate speech online and backlash in response to a recent funding decision made by the City of Vancouver. As a trans-inclusive anti-violence organization, we feel a sense of responsibility to provide a counter-narrative to this trans-exclusionary radical feminism. It’s no secret […]

Who We Are: Getting To Know Sonmin, Volunteer and Educational Outreach Coordinator

As a member of our community, you may have heard us describe the work we do as ‘Supporting Survivors and Shifting Society’. We often talk about how we support survivors through our direct services, like counselling, our 24-hour Crisis Line, and police and hospital accompaniment programs. But what about the Shifting Society part? How we […]

‘Recognition: Trans & Queer Writing on Sexual Harm’

WAVAW Rape Crisis Center is seeking submissions of poetry, prose, and art for our upcoming zine ‘Recognition: Trans & Queer Writing on Sexual Harm’. We are looking for diverse voices to talk about how consent does and doesn’t show up in our community: with partners, with friends, at sweaty dance parties, and more. We’re particularly […]

Executive Director Announcement

WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre Appointment of New Executive Director For Immediate Release  Vancouver. February 22, 2019.               WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre is pleased to announce that Dalya Israel has been appointed the new Executive Director, continuing WAVAW’s 37-year mandate of supporting survivors and shifting society to create a future […]

WAVAW Stands Behind the Proposed Changes to Bill C-51

During the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence I always take pause to think about how we are enacting activism in our work at WAVAW. This year’s global theme is #hearmetoo, it’s an important theme as we continue our journey towards accountability as an organization and encourage systems to do the same. Today […]

WAVAW’s Stance on Sex Work

 In July 2018, we published an apology to sex workers. After this, we put out a survey seeking feedback about the sexual assault service needs of the sex worker community. We saw a clear distinction in the responses between people who have lived experience in sex work and those who do not. We choose to […]