Backgrounder: Family and Gender-Based Violence Projects

Backgrounder

November 2022

Family and gender-based violence have both immediate and long-term impacts on the physical and mental health of survivors, and lasting consequences for families, individuals, communities and society as a whole.

The Government of Canada is funding projects aimed to prevent and address family violence and its health impacts by delivering, testing and supporting diverse health promotion programs and interventions tailored to the needs of those who have experienced, are experiencing or are at-risk of experiencing family violence.

Five Quebec-based initiatives, totalling over $4.5 million, have been funded over four years to help prevent family and gender-based violence and to support survivors.

List of funded projects:

The Centre d'expertise Marie-Vincent is receiving $853,796 to develop and evaluate a program for the prevention of sexual violence and the promotion of egalitarian relationships for children aged 6 to 12 and their and their families and caregivers, by adapting the Lantern program. This project aims to create prevention and training tools for more than 600 community professionals from more than 200 community organizations in various regions of Quebec and is helping to identify best practices for trauma-informed prevention of sexual violence.

The Park-Extension Youth Organisation (PEYO) is receiving $406,013 to deliver and evaluate a community outreach arts intervention service to immigrant families residing in the Park-Extension neighbourhood of Montreal. Through a series of workshops based on storytelling and free artistic creation, this program aims to reduce parental stress and improve family dynamics in order to prevent violence. A second part of the project will promote the dissemination of knowledge through the development of an intervention guide and informational videos.

The University of Montreal is receiving $1,175,875 to implement and evaluate the Initiative Espace Parents, which is promoting parenting skills and aiming at preventing child maltreatment among newly arrived immigrant families. Delivered though its partners, this two-pronged intervention, comprised of group sessions, and individual sessions for more difficult-to-reach populations, aims to reach over 300 parents from eight partner community organizations in the Greater Montreal region.

The University of Quebec in Chicoutimi is receiving $786,287 to implement and evaluate the Kaskinomatasowin program, a sexual abuse prevention and healthy relationship promotion program for children and youth. The project, which is an extension of the Lantern|Awacic prevention program is tailored to the needs of the Atikamekw and respectful of their culture. The program is targeting over 200 parents from three Atikamekw Indigenous communities in Quebec and aims to expand their skills and prevent sexual violence towards children.

The University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières is receiving $1,368,726 to scale up, adapt, and evaluate the Supporting the Transition to and Engagement in Parenthood (STEP) program in four different regions in Quebec. This trauma-informed prenatal program for survivors of complex trauma will promote maternal health and support the health and development of their children. The project is also being adapted to respond to the needs of populations that are disproportionally affected by family violence: Indigenous communities, cultural minorities, and individuals with a psychiatric disorder.

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