Saskatchewan Towards Offering Partnership Solutions to Violence

Published purpose

Through this 39-month project, Saskatchewan Towards Offering Partnership Solutions (STOPS) to Violence will develop and put in place a model and process based in Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) to strengthen the GBV sector. It will address the current gap in formal gender-based violence services that exist in smaller rural and northern Saskatchewan communities. To do so, the project will include adapting an ABCD based process to strengthen informal community level supports; engagement with 6 rural and northern communities to pilot and test the process; investing in peer mentorship and leadership development for community members with lived experience; and supporting 24 months of community lead action to assess effectiveness and impacts. The project will work along the spectrum from prevention to intervention with elders, community members with lived experience and government agencies that have knowledge and expertise in the rural and northern context to support community members to organize, mobilize and influence change in their communities. An external evaluator will measure and assess the impact of the promising practice. STOPS will develop practice documents and a knowledge dissemination plan to continue to share, adapt and scale information on the promising practice with other organizations so that they may replicate it or expand upon it. With the supplemental funds and 12-month extension provided in early 2026, STOPS to Violence will strengthen informal supports by generating pathways to sharing information through trusted relationships, nurturing community capacity for prevention, clarifying and curating institutional / formal services, supporting local awareness building and prevention education, and evolving measurement and strategic learning. Through this, they will further advance gender equality.