Avalon Sexual Assault Centre Society

Published purpose

Through this 41-month project, Avalon Sexual Assault Centre Society will develop and put in place a Legal Pathways and System Navigation Model to strengthen the GBV sector. It will address the lack of available resources and tools to gain support for legal processes that lead survivors to unfair advantages, time consuming, and strenuous experiences in search of justice. To do so, the project will develop and implement a community centered model for organizations and their clients for legal support and guidance pertaining to sexualized and gender-based violence, and to cooperate and advocate on a large scale for advancement towards systemic change. An external evaluator will measure and assess the impact of the promising practice. Avalon Sexual Assault Centre Society will participate in community events to increase visibility of the project and share lessons learned from the promising practice in order to share information with others so that they may replicate it or expand upon it. With the supplemental funds and extension provided in early 2026, Avalon Sexual Assault Centre Society will develop and deliver a sector capacity-building training program titled "How to Provide Community-Based Legal Support 101" to community organizations across the Halifax Regional Municipality. This will equip service providers with sustainable tools and knowledge to better support victims and survivors of sexualized and gender-based violence. The training will be based on the project’s Legal Pathways Toolkit and resources developed in collaboration with law students and legal aid partners, and include feedback from academic, service provider, and survivor advisors. Through this they will further advance Gender Equality.