NationTalk: The Government of Yukon is pleased to announce $2.2 million in funding to support Yukon-based women’s and gender equity-seeking non-governmental organizations. The funding, which covers the 2023–24 and 2024–25 fiscal years, was made available through the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.

The funding will support projects that fall under Pillar one and Pillar two of the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence: Support for victims, survivors and their families and Prevention.

The recipients of the funding are:

• Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society
• Skookum Jim Friendship Centre
• Yukon Status of Women Council
• Whitehorse Aboriginal Women’s Circle
• Victoria Faulkner Women’s Centre
• Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council
• Queer Yukon
• Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition
• Yukon Women in Trades and Technology
• Les Essentielles

This funding is available through a bilateral agreement announced last year between the Government of Yukon and the Government of Canada under the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.

This investment will support efforts to strengthen and build capacity in the gender-based violence prevention sector in the territory. It will help enable funded organizations to better address the intersectional needs of diverse populations, including those experiencing gender-based violence in rural and remote communities.

The Yukon implementation plan for the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence was written to align with the Yukon strategy on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit+ People and will support its implementation.

Community organizations are at the heart of systemic change and supporting their life-saving work remains a top priority for the Government of Canada. The funding announced today will help these organizations chart a path towards building safer communities across the Yukon for Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

The Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth

Congratulations and heartfelt thank you to the funding recipients for the essential and sometimes life-saving services they offer to those affected by gender-based violence and their families. I am grateful for the partnership of the Government of Canada as we work together to prevent gender-based violence and create systemic change through community-led solutions. Through the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, I am confident we can make meaningful and lasting change for generations to come.

Minister responsible for the Women and Gender Equity Directorate in Yukon Jeanie McLean

Quick facts

• The National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence focuses on three priority areas:
  1. Increasing prevention efforts;
  2. Reaching underserved and at-risk populations; and
  3. Stabilizing the gender-based violence prevention sector.
• It also includes five pillars intended to guide national efforts towards:
  1. support for victims, survivors and their families;
  2. prevention;
  3. a responsive justice system;
  4. implementing Indigenous-led approaches; and
  5. social infrastructure and enabling environment.
• The Government of Canada will be investing $16.4 million over four years to support the implementation of the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence in the Yukon. This amount will be cost-matched by the Government of Yukon.
• Nationally, over 11 million people aged 15 and over have experienced intimate partner violence at least once since the age of 15. In 2009, it was estimated that intimate partner violence has an economic cost of $7.4 billion annually and sexualized violence, a cost of $4.8 billion annually.
• Gender-based violence is a significant and complex issue in the Yukon, with rates three to four times higher than the national average. Over 61 per cent of women and 61 per cent of men in the Yukon have experienced at least one physical or sexualized assault since the age of 15.
• In 2021, the Yukon was among the top three provinces and territories with the highest rates of human trafficking per 100,000 population.
• Children and youth, specifically girls, were more likely to be victims of family violence in the territories than in the provinces, with Nunavut reporting the highest rate, followed by the Northwest Territories and the Yukon in 2019.
• Since 2021, the Government of Canada has committed $1.14 billion to advance the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, including $539.3 million over five years to support provinces and territories in their efforts to implement the National Action Plan.
• The list of projects funded under the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence:
  OrganizationProjectPillarLes EssentiellesInclusive CommunicationsPreventionLes EssentiellesDiversity and Inclusion Evaluation of ServicesVictim SupportLiard Aboriginal Women’s SocietyStories from the DrumPrevention
  (Y1: 2023-2024)Liard Aboriginal Women’s SocietyYouth for DignityPrevention
  (Y2: 2024-2025)Liard Aboriginal Women’s SocietyCompassionate Inquiry CirclesVictim SupportQueer YukonSupport and connection for 2SLGBTQIA+ and allied youthPreventionQueer YukonSupport and connections for 2SLGBTQIA+ Yukoners victim of gender-based violenceVictim SupportSkookum Jim Friendship CentrePrevention of Gender-Based Violence via redefining masculinity for indigenous men and boysPreventionSkookum Jim Friendship CentreIncreasing Safety at SJFCVictim SupportVictoria Faulkner Women’s CentreEnhancing Violence Prevention ProgrammingPreventionVictoria Faulkner Women’s CentreRebuilding Resilience ProjectVictim SupportWhitehorse Aboriginal Women’s CircleEnhancing Cultural ProgrammingPreventionWhitehorse Aboriginal Women’s CircleDeveloping overall safety and competency at WAWCVictim SupportYukon Anti-Poverty CoalitionIncreasing safety and programming for lone parent families at Whitehorse Affordable Housing – 60 SelkirkPreventionYukon Anti-Poverty CoalitionIncreasing programming and presence at Whitehorse Affordable Housing – 60 SelkirkVictim SupportYukon Aboriginal Women’s CouncilRural Outreach Pilot ProjectPreventionYukon Aboriginal Women’s CouncilYAWC’s Elders-in-Residence and Counsellors-in-Residence Enhancement InitiativeVictim SupportYukon Status of Women CouncilReport on the impacts of COVID-19 on Yukon womens’ housing, livelihoods and well-beingPreventionYukon Status of Women CouncilChallenging stigmatizing legislation on sex workersVictim SupportYukon Women in Trades and TechnologySustainability building within the organization and communityPreventionBackgrounder
  • The National Action Plan was officially endorsed by Federal Provincial Territorial Status of Women Ministers on November 9, 2022.
  • In April 2023, the Women and Gender Equity Directorate began negotiating on behalf of the Government of Yukon a Bilateral Funding Agreement with Women and Gender Equality Canada to:
    • match $16.397 million in federal funding with Government of Yukon funds from 2023–24 to 2026–27; and
    • negotiate Yukon’s implementation plan to support the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.
  • Backgrounder from the Government of Canada
  Media contact
  Laura Seeley
  Cabinet Communications
  867-332-7627
  Laura.Seeley@yukon.caWeronika Murray
  Communications Analyst, Women and Gender Equity Directorate
  867- 667-3030
  weronika.murray@yukon.ca