HALIFAX: Community-based organizations across the province are receiving funding to support their work to address gender-based violence.
The funding is through the 10-year National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, an agreement with the federal government.
This year, $5.1 million is being invested to support projects that will enhance prevention efforts, increase supports for victims and survivors, and ensure that Nova Scotians can access culturally appropriate services.
“To address an issue as widespread and deeply entrenched as gender-based violence, we need an all-of-society approach – one that is responsive to the unique needs of our communities,” said Leah Martin, Minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women.
“This funding helps support our partners and advances their work, while ensuring Nova Scotians continue to have access to important resources and support in their communities.”
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Of 28 projects, 26 are receiving multi-year funding to ensure long-term impact.
Projects align with Standing Together, the Province’s action plan to prevent domestic violence, and recommendations from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the Mass Casualty Commission’s final report and the Desmond Fatality Inquiry final report.
This is the second year of funding; last year, the province provided more than $3.1 million to support 16 projects.
Quotes:
“This funding is allowing GEO Nova Scotia and our partners across the province to distribute hundreds of smartphones and phone plans to women leaving situations of violence, providing them with a lifeline to emergency care, critical support and independence.”
— Matt Spurway, Executive Director, GEO (Getting Everyone Online) Nova Scotia
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Quick Facts:
the province declared intimate partner violence an epidemic last September
seven women and one man were killed in Nova Scotia as a result of intimate partner violence between October 2024 and March 2025
projects funded by the national action plan fall under one of five pillars: support for victims, survivors and their families; prevention; responsive justice system; implementing Indigenous-led approaches; social infrastructure and enabling environment
through the national action plan and Standing Together, the Status of Women office is advancing work that addresses 24 of the Mass Casualty Commission recommendations and five of the Desmond Fatality Inquiry recommendations
the government is working with the gender-based violence sector to co-design a community engagement framework to support responses to those reports
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National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence – Year 2 investments:
Access to Justice and Law Reform Institute of Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality — free legal advice to transition house clients to support them in addressing intimate partner violence through family and civil justice systems
Adsum House, Halifax Regional Municipality — financial support for women and families experiencing gender-based violence
Adsum House, Halifax Regional Municipality — wraparound supports to help families find safe and affordable housing free from violence
Africadian Empowerment Academy, Halifax Regional Municipality — social and employment programs rooted in Afrocentrism for youth of African descent
Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre, Antigonish and Guysborough counties — culturally relevant programming for Indigenous and Black and African Nova Scotians
Antigonish Women’s Resource Centre — healthy relationship programming
Atlantic Muslim Resource Centre, Halifax Regional Municipality — gender-based violence programming and supports for men and boys from the faith-based community
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Be The Peace Institute, Halifax Regional Municipality — two-day event to bring together the gender-based violence sector in an effort to foster collaboration (one-year funding)
Bridges Institute, Colchester County — healthy relationship programming for young men and boys in grades 6 to 9
Bridges Institute, Colchester County — outreach to and counselling for Indigenous and African Nova Scotian men
Coverdale Justice Society, Halifax Regional Municipality — programming for 2SLGBTQI+ people in the criminal justice system who have experienced gender-based violence
Delmore (Buddy) Daye Learning Institute, Halifax Regional Municipality — series of virtual and in-person events that engage Black and African Nova Scotian women leaders
Elizabeth Fry Society of Cape Breton, Cape Breton Regional Municipality — gender-based violence supports
Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality — employment readiness, economic wellness programming for criminalized women and gender-diverse individuals
Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality — sexual health education program
Family Services of Eastern Nova Scotia, provincewide — prevention programming for men and boys
GEO (Getting Everyone Online) Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality — exploring assistive technology for women with disabilities (one-year funding)
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Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia, Halifax Regional Municipality — accessible, multilingual information resources to improve legal materials for victims of intimate partner violence
Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre, Halifax Regional Municipality — programming for Indigenous youth with a focus on gender-based violence
Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre, Halifax Regional Municipality — peer-to-peer training and education to address healthy relationships and responses to trauma
Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre, Halifax Regional Municipality — gender-based violence supports for at-risk Indigenous youth
Nova Scotia Association of Black Social Workers, Halifax Regional Municipality — microgrants to support Black and African Nova Scotian community-centred approaches to gender-based violence
Nova Scotia League for Equal Opportunities, provincewide — improving supports for women with disabilities who experience gender-based violence
Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association, Colchester County — programming for Indigenous women at-risk or experiencing gender-based violence
Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association, Colchester County — funding for an Indigenous-led empowerment fund
Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association, Colchester County — addressing the issue of sexual violence
Women’s Centres Connect, provincewide — development of a streamlined data collection system
YWCA Halifax, Halifax Regional Municipality — safe housing and wraparound supports for women fleeing human trafficking
