Thank you very much.
Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee. It's a real pleasure for me to be here and to have an opportunity to talk to you today about our work at the women's equality branch.
I certainly want to express my gratitude, and that of the branch, for the invitation to talk about some of the work we're involved in from a provincial government perspective within New Brunswick.
I also want to introduce our director of violence prevention, Martine Stewart, who's joining me today. She leads our violence prevention unit, which strives every day to move toward the goal of ensuring that all women of our province are able to live free of violence. It's a privilege to work alongside that team every day.
I must tell you that I've prepared my notes in English. For my overview of the points I want to cover, I'll speak English, but I will be pleased to answer your questions in French or in English.
I'd like to start by giving you a bit of an overview of our organization to provide you with the context for our work, and then speak in a bit more detail on some of the initiatives and programs we are leading within the scope of your study in support of the prevention of violence against women and girls.
The women's equality branch is one of the units of the Executive Council Office within the Government of New Brunswick. We report to the clerk of the executive council, and our current minister is the Premier of New Brunswick, the Honourable Brian Gallant.
Being situated as part of the Executive Council Office positions us very well to deliver on our mandate of coordinating the implementation of government's actions and initiatives in the areas of women's personal, economic, and social security. We do this while working to promote gender equality, reducing systemic discrimination, and providing advice and support to our minister and to departments of government.
Our vision within the branch is a New Brunswick that is free of gender-based violence, where all women have achieved social, cultural, legal, and economic equality. To achieve that vision, we have two functional units, one focused on economic security and one on violence prevention. I want to focus today on the work in the area of violence prevention.
We have a very active violence prevention and community partnerships unit. The work of the unit is a blend of direct program delivery and supporting and fostering community partnerships in the area of violence prevention, as well as providing policy advice to government departments and leading and coordinating government action in the area of violence prevention.
On the program delivery side, we fund and support the following key programs: the domestic violence outreach program, which is a network of 14 outreach workers across the province; second-stage housing programs, which fund support services to residents of second-stage facilities within the province; the Moving Forward program, a program for agencies to develop a community-based group program for children and their mothers to heal from the hurt of living with domestic violence; and the provincial strategy on sexual assault services, which is delivered by community partners. It provides the coordination of community-based sexual assault services, including 24-hour crisis support and training for service providers as well as other sexual violence support services.
The investment that government makes in these important programs and services for women and children, for victims of violence, and for some of our most vulnerable populations accounts for nearly half of our branch's annual budget.
In support of community partnerships in the area of violence prevention, the branch supports and leads Provincial Partnerships in Action, which is a network of community-based organizations, outreach workers, second-stage housing and transition houses, and regional family violence network representatives.
We also lead the development and sharing of best-in-class tools for those working with victims of domestic violence, including the Woman Victims of Abuse Protocols, which is a resource guide that was developed by the branch that is widely used within the province, as well as other tools, such as the danger assessment training. There are some tools from the Cybersafe Girl website, which is an Atlantic collaboration with our other Atlantic governments and ministries responsible for status of women.
We also foster partnerships in research and innovation in the field of violence prevention through participation and supports for regional family violence networks and participation in various study projects. Some of the current themes are a project in the area of violence against immigrant women. We also support the New Brunswick human trafficking working group and are involved in the Domestic Violence Death Review Committee within the province.
Finally, in the area of policy development and coordination, our team works in close collaboration with other government departments in the development and delivery of key initiatives to combat and prevent violence. Some of the key priorities of government in this regard currently include work in the area of violence against aboriginal women and girls and in the area of domestic intimate partner violence.
With respect to violence against aboriginal women and girls, the women's equality branch co-chairs an interdepartmental committee on the prevention and response to violence against aboriginal women and girls, as well as an advisory committee of New Brunswick aboriginal women who inform the priorities of government in this regard. Through the collective work of these two bodies, the branch has been able to develop some innovative models to serve the needs of the aboriginal women and girls in the province. One recent example has been the announcement of a pilot site for domestic outreach service in the Miramichi, and that's been a partnership with funding from Public Safety Canada. The pilot will serve four first nations communities within that area, and the goal will be to focus on establishing culturally appropriate outreach services for aboriginal women who are victims of violence.
In the area of domestic and intimate partner violence, considerable focus has been established in collaboration with community partners through the provincial crime prevention and reduction strategy. This strategy is a community and government partnership with a vision to make New Brunswick a world leader in crime prevention and reduction. This partnership has established three priorities, one of which is addressing domestic intimate partner violence.
In this area, government is committed to four key initiatives: education and awareness, which has been led with the establishment of the Love Shouldn't Hurt campaign; legislative tools; community-coordinated response; and conducting work to better understand and address the needs of children who are witness to or exposed to intimate partner violence. Our violence prevention unit is leading or co-leading on three of these initiatives, in close collaboration with key government departments and other community partners.
Working toward advancing equality is an important part of why we do the work we do. In my role, I can tell you that it's the pillar of our mandate. It is the foremost objective of the support and advice that we offer to other government departments and to stakeholders. Achieving equality by actions that promote opportunity and safe environments for women and girls contributes substantially to sustainable economic growth and social advancement by employing the contributions of all people to build better communities.
As we know, gender equality is a fundamental right, but it is one that bears repeating. Achieving that equality informs all the work by the individuals working within our branch. They devote their time to managing programs, participating in working groups, developing policies, and engaging with our stakeholders, all with the goal of improving the status of women in this province. The branch is focused on helping to achieve and implement the government's priorities as they relate to women.
Key current priorities in addition to those already discussed include improving pay equity, implementing gender-based analysis across government in all its decision-making, and improving the representation of women in leadership roles. While these actions are not solely focused on violence prevention, we also know that there is an intersectionality in the work on economic and social equality on the one hand and violence prevention on the other, because, in the end, violence is about power and control, and to end it requires social change in attitudes and beliefs about the equality of all genders. Therefore, the work around gender-based analysis and leadership as examples is also critical.
By doing this work, we demonstrate the important role that women and girls play in our communities, our workplaces, and our homes. That is why in our approach to our work we continue to provide focus to programs and initiatives that relate to women and children. We work with the community, our stakeholders, and service providers in order to build a system that better serves everyone, especially women and children, a population that has traditionally been marginalized through violence and discrimination.
Regional diversity, community involvement and energy, leadership champions, and creativity and availability of resources create opportunities for processes to evolve around problem-solving and learning from the experiences of others. That is why the focus on partnerships is a part of the overall provincial strategy.
Finally, I would be remiss in not stating that this partnership approach also extends beyond our borders. Our work with the federal government and with other provinces and territories through the FPT forum of ministers, through our Atlantic forum of Status of Women ministers, and through bilateral relationships is a valuable source for our province of learning best practices and collaboration.
I will leave it at that. I want to thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you for your attention.
Ms. Stewart and I are certainly available for any questions that you may have.