Canadian Center for Women's Empowerment (CCFWE)

Published purpose

This 29-month project will support a feminist response and recovery to address the current impacts of COVID-19 through systemic change. It will address economic abuse and injustice through advancing advocacy and responding to policy changes, which aligns well with the feminist response and recovery. By the end of the project, the organization will develop and validate the Economic Abuse Screening Tool from the UK, which is proven to overcome and eliminate systemic barriers for survivors. The existing members of the National Economic Abuse Taskforce at the Canadian Centre for Women’s Empowerment (CCFWE), who are dedicated to improving the economic prosperity and safety of women, will utilize their expertise to adapt and validate this screening tool. The tool will help service providers and policymakers identify whether their clients are experiencing this form of abuse and how to address it. The organization is partnering with universities, non-profit organizations, and shelters to use their expertise in order to adapt this tool for Canadian use. The project will also implement and evaluate the tool by collaborating with organizations that work to advance gender equity, intersectional feminism, and women’s rights to overcome economic barriers women face. The CCFWE will influence the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) and the Canadian Bank Association to review the Advancing National Financial Abuse Code of Conduct and to develop a family violence program to protect survivors. The supplemental funds will be used to address an increased demand for support from project partners resulting in the hiring of part-time taskforce coordinators to manage the expanded workload.