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Contribution: Gender-Based Violence Program

Vesta Social Innovation Technologies

$1,977,116.00

Resilience in Action: Intersectional Approaches to Addressing GBV in Diverse Communities

FY 2025-26 · 2025-04-07

Summary
This 24-month project aims to scale Vesta Community, a survivor-centered practice, to reduce barriers to reporting gender-based violence (GBV) across Canada. It will expand services to reach marginalized populations, including immigrant, refugee, and non-status women, while addressing gaps such as limited culturally responsive services, barriers to reporting, and a lack of accessible, trauma-informed pathways to justice and support. The project will strengthen frontline capacity through community engagement, training, and collaborative research and data gathering to better understand survivors’ needs and systemic barriers. A secure, culturally responsive platform: the Navigator Program, with enhanced privacy features will be developed to protect survivor information and provide them with trusted guides to help access services. Additionally, outreach and awareness-building activities will reduce stigma and raise awareness of available supports. Evaluation and measurement will ensure the framework’s ongoing improvement and scalability. By the project’s end, survivors will have greater access to responsive, trauma-informed services, and the GBV sector will be better equipped to support them. Findings will be shared nationally to promote replication and systemic change.
Program
Gender-Based Violence Program
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Recipient Type
For-profit organization
Type
Contribution
Source
Proactive Disclosure - Grants and Contributions

As published

Agreement End Date
2027-03-31
Agreement Number
GV240274
Agreement Start Date
2025-04-07
Agreement Title
Resilience in Action: Intersectional Approaches to Addressing GBV in Diverse Communities
Agreement Title (French)
Résilience à l’œuvre : approches intersectionnelles pour contrer la VFS dans les communautés diverses
Agreement Type
Contribution
Agreement Value
$1,977,116.00
Amendment Number
0
Description
This 24-month project aims to scale Vesta Community, a survivor-centered practice, to reduce barriers to reporting gender-based violence (GBV) across Canada. It will expand services to reach marginalized populations, including immigrant, refugee, and non-status women, while addressing gaps such as limited culturally responsive services, barriers to reporting, and a lack of accessible, trauma-informed pathways to justice and support. The project will strengthen frontline capacity through community engagement, training, and collaborative research and data gathering to better understand survivors’ needs and systemic barriers. A secure, culturally responsive platform: the Navigator Program, with enhanced privacy features will be developed to protect survivor information and provide them with trusted guides to help access services. Additionally, outreach and awareness-building activities will reduce stigma and raise awareness of available supports. Evaluation and measurement will ensure the framework’s ongoing improvement and scalability. By the project’s end, survivors will have greater access to responsive, trauma-informed services, and the GBV sector will be better equipped to support them. Findings will be shared nationally to promote replication and systemic change.
Description (French)
Ce projet d’une durée de 24 mois amplifiera Vesta Community, une pratique axée sur les personnes survivantes, afin d’éliminer les obstacles à la signalisation de la violence fondée sur le sexe (VFS) partout au Canada. Le projet élargira la portée de ses services pour rejoindre les populations marginalisées, y compris les femmes immigrantes, réfugiées et sans statut, et comblera les lacunes, notamment les services culturellement adaptés limités, les obstacles à la signalisation, et l’insuffisance des ressources et d’un accès à la justice et à des mesures de soutien qui tiennent compte des traumatismes. Le projet renforcera la capacité de première ligne par la mobilisation communautaire, la formation, et la recherche et la collecte de données collaboratives pour mieux comprendre les besoins des personnes survivantes et les obstacles systémiques. Le Programme de navigation, une plateforme sécurisée et culturellement adaptée, munie de fonctionnalités de confidentialités améliorées, sera conçu pour protéger les renseignements des personnes survivantes et leur fournir des guides fiables pour leur permettre d’accéder aux services. De plus, des activités de mobilisation et de sensibilisation permettront de réduire la stigmatisation et de sensibiliser aux mesures de soutiens disponibles. Une évaluation et une analyse vont assurer l’amélioration et l’amplification continues du modèle. À la fin du projet, les personnes survivantes auront plus facilement accès aux services adaptés qui tiennent compte des traumatismes, et le secteur de la VFS sera mieux outillé pour les soutenir. Les données seront publiées à l’échelle nationale pour promouvoir la reproduction et le changement systémique.
Expected Results
Promising practices are incorporated by the GBV sector into new or enhanced supports for target populations.
Expected Results (French)
Intégration, par le secteur, des pratiques prometteuses aux mesures de soutien nouvelles ou améliorées qu’il offre aux populations ciblées.
Organization Code
wage
Organization
Women and Gender Equality Canada | Femmes et Égalité des genres Canada
Program Name
Gender-Based Violence Program
Program Name (French)
Programme de financement de la lutte contre la violence fondée sur le sexe
Program Purpose
The purpose of the GBV Program is to strengthen the GBV sector to address gaps in supports for two groups of survivors: 1) Indigenous women and their communities, and 2) underserved populations (including women living with a disability, non-status/refugee /immigrant women, LGBTQ2S, gender non-conforming people and ethno-cultural women) in Canada. The Program provides grant and contribution funding to Canadian organizations to improve supports to help create long-term, comprehensive solutions at the national, regional, and local levels.
Program Purpose (French)
Le Programme de financement de la lutte contre la violence fondée sur le sexe (le Programme) vise à renforcer la lutte contre la violence fondée sur le sexe (VFS) et, en particulier, à remédier au manque de soutien pour deux catégories de survivantes et survivants, soit : 1) les femmes autochtones et leurs communautés; et 2) les populations sous-desservies au Canada (notamment les femmes handicapées, les femmes réfugiées, immigrantes ou en situation irrégulière, les personnes allosexuelles et les femmes des minorités ethnoculturelles). Il s’agit d’un programme de subventions et contributions pour les organismes canadiens qui mènent des projets visant à améliorer les mesures d’aide offertes et à créer des solutions durables et complètes à l’échelle nationale, régionale et locale.
Recipient City
Toronto
Recipient Country
CA
Recipient Legal Name
Vesta Social Innovation Technologies
Recipient Postal Code
M2N 7C1
Recipient Province or Territory
ON
Recipient Type
N
Reference Number
190-2025-2026-Q1-00010