Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre

Published purpose

Through this 32-month project, Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre will build its capacity to advance gender equality. It will address the need to bolster culturally safe, trauma-informed and anti-oppressive services available to members of historically underserved populations who have experienced sexual and/or gender-based violence in the Ottawa region. Specifically, the project will include (1) conducting a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) audit of ORCC; (2) developing an ORCC-specific DEI toolkit; (3) operationalizing the DEI toolkit recommendations; and (4) monitoring, evaluating and learning from the project implementation. With the Supplemental funds and extension provided in early 2026, the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre will build on learnings from Phase I and address identified gaps by 1) strengthening governance structures and leadership capacity to effectively integrate, institutionalize, and oversee DEI implementation; 2) establishing measurable and sustainable DEI monitoring and accountability systems; and 3) embedding organizational reflection and policy refinement into the ongoing DEI toolkit implementation to ensure sustained progress and continuous improvement. Through this they will further advance Gender Equality.