I'm proud to say that our rape crisis centre has no government money, provincial or municipal, in what we offer to women, because the community is willing to support us in a variety of ways. Also, my specific collective has been fortunate to rely a lot on volunteer commitments, both of some of our paid staff.... We all give way beyond the time that we are paid for and we have a major force of volunteers who sustain the work of the organization.
So it's true: the community has a big role. But there are some things that not only the government can pay for; I think there are some things that the government should pay for. The fact that there is no funding for national coordination of all the rape crisis centres in Canada is a problem. It undermines, segregates, and individualizes the work that each rape crisis centre does instead of having them build on and benefit from each other's work.
So I do think that it has been important and I have a lot of respect for the many services that Status of Women Canada rightfully funds. I think it has a huge importance, but it cannot come in and replace advocacy, which means changing the world and making it a better place for women.