June 26, 2012
VANCOUVER, BC – The Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women, today announced support for a project with MOSAIC and Langara College that will address the issues of violence against women, and safety concerns for women attending college and university campuses in the Vancouver area.
"Our government is pleased to support this project, which will play a pivotal role in preventing violence against women, particularly culturally motivated violence on college and university campuses in Vancouver," said Minister Ambrose. "We are pleased to partner with MOSAIC and Langara College to work toward keeping our campuses safe from all forms of violence."
MOSAIC – Multilingual Orientation Service Association for Immigrant Communities – is receiving $200,000 in Government of Canada funding for its 28-month project to tackle violence against female students, particularly newcomers to Canada, in collaboration with Langara College. The project will focus on female students from various diverse communities. The focus of the project will be to enhance campus policies, programs and resources for the safety of female students. Partners will develop a violence prevention strategy and campus community safety plans. Particular emphasis will be placed on education, prevention strategies on and off campus, and raising awareness among youth and new immigrants.
Since 1976, the multilingual non-profit organization has helped to integrate newcomers to life in Canada. Its major activities include settlement services and programming, crime reduction and prevention programs, public education and community development.
"We are delighted to have the Government of Canada's support for this project, which we believe will bring much-needed attention to the all-too-common reality of gender-based violence on university and college campuses," said Ms. Ninu Kang, Director of Family Programs, MOSAIC.
"We look forward to working with MOSAIC on this ground-breaking project, as it is an opportunity for us to educate, empower and support female students who may be experiencing violence in their personal lives, " said Dr. David Ross. "Through our community forums, Langara has long supported initiatives that bring attention to issues surrounding violence in our communities."
"Since 2006, Langara College has hosted powerful forums on violence against women aimed to empower women, and to challenge the idea that women cannot take an active role in eliminating violence," said Indira Prahst, Chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Langara College. "The collaboration with MOSAIC is an example of how the community and academe can be bridged to resist violence against women in solidarity and provide a solid knowledge base that includes the input of students."
The Government of Canada is committed to supporting projects that yield concrete results for women and girls in Canada while strengthening families, communities and the country. Through Status of Women Canada, the government's support for community-based projects has nearly doubled since 2006-2007, from $10.8 million to close to $19 million, its highest level ever. Since 2007, more than $49 million in federal funding has been approved for projects that seek to address violence against women and girls.
