WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre
Appointment of New Executive Director

For Immediate Release 

Vancouver. February 22, 2019.

Dalya Israel, WAVAW’s Executive Director

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 free of sexualized violence. Dalya is assuming the role after managing WAVAW’s Victims Services, Volunteer and Outreach Program; a position she has held since 2012.

“With an increased focus on sexualized violence across communities and a cultural shift in how our society views sexual assault and gendered oppression, WAVAW is seeing an increased demand in both frontline services for supporting survivors and educational outreach. We are thrilled that Dalya will be leading WAVAW’s team of passionate staff and volunteers, bringing forward exciting change with renewed commitment to WAVAW’s feminist, decolonizing and anti-oppressive values” says Trina Prince, WAVAW Board Chair. “Dalya brings with her more than 15 years of experience and expertise as a leader both at WAVAW and across Canada within the feminist non-profit sector”.

After completing her BA in Women’s Studies from the University of British Columbia with a focus on Critical Studies in Sexuality, Dalya started with WAVAW full-time in the Victim Service Program in 2003. Eventually joining the Management Team, Dalya has been overseeing WAVAW’s Victim Service Program and Educational Outreach Program for more than 7 years. Dalya has remained dedicated to serving survivors, continuing to see clients and providing support in navigating the Medical and Criminal Justice systems with survivors following an experience of sexual assault. Dalya has also been a part of the community advisory committee for the largest National Canadian HIV Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study and has attended several National HIV Conferences and is and was the principal contributor in WAVAW’s groundbreaking paper “Seeking Equality before the Courts for Women.” She delivered the findings of the paper at multiple conferences attended by Justice System Personnel, such as the 2012 FREDA Conference and the 2014 BC Justice Summit. Dalya has presented at multiple National and International Conferences such as Women’s Worlds, The Guelph Sexualities Conference, and the National Association of Multicultural Educators in Chicago. Dalya presents regularly at many local professional developments days for teachers, social workers, counsellors and victim service workers about best practices for responding to victims/survivors of sexual assault.

“At WAVAW, we are committed to listening to the needs of survivors, and growing our frontline services and educational and outreach programs to ensure that we are continuously offering services that address these needs,” says Dalya Israel, newly appointed Executive Director. Dalya played a critical role in WAVAW’s service expansion to be inclusive of trans, Two Spirit and non-binary survivors in addition to cis and trans women. “With an alarming lack of core funding from all levels of Government, we are so fortunate to have such a strong community of advocates for survivors of sexual assault who are committed to ensuring they can connect to healing and to building a world that won’t continue to cause them harm”.

About WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre

WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre is a non-profit charitable organization that formed in 1982 in response to the high demand for support services for survivors of sexual assault. Over the past 36 years, WAVAW has grown from a one-woman operated Crisis Line, to the largest rape crisis centre in British Columbia. A feminist, anti-oppressive, decolonizing rape crisis centre operating on unceded Coast Salish Territories, WAVAW is committed to supporting survivors with shared experiences of gendered oppression: women, Two-Spirit, trans and/or non-binary people.

WAVAW is also dedicated to deconstructing systemic violence in our society. WAVAW conducts educational outreach in the community, going to schools and post-secondary institutions to conduct anti-violence workshops open to all genders with the goal of building communities free from violence.

WAVAW’s Programs and Services

WAVAW provides the following services to support survivors of sexual assault:

• One-to-one Counselling
• Support Groups
• 24- Hour Crisis Line
• 24-Hour hospital accompaniment
• Court and police accompaniment
• Indigenous specific services

All of WAVAW’s services are free-of-charge and confidential.
24-Hour Crisis Line: 604-255-6344

Media Inquiries and Additional Information
Emily Oswald
Manager of Fund Development
emily@salalsvsc.ca 604.255.6228 x240