WomenAWARE / FemmesAVERTIES was created in 1995 by a small group of women who were survivors of domestic violence.

​

These women recognized that there was a gap in the long term services provided to victims of domestic violence. As a result they came together and with the assistance of  a pioneering and progressive *team of the  CLSC-NDG.
 

WomenAWARE was created to provide long-term support to victims and to increase the community’s awareness of domestic violence through the voice of surviors, their experiences and testimonies.

​

Over the past 15 years WomenAWARE has achieved it’s mission statement through the development of several programs run independently and in conjunction with other organizations.

 

The creation of WomenAWARE reflects the growing commitment of the Montreal community to address domestic abuse and more importantly, not to tolerate it.

 

We  do acknowledge and give thanks to that intial *team who took the unique initative to assist in putting forth the voice of the survivor - now mentors. Below is an excerpt from the book  “The War on Women” by Canadian writer, editor, producer and director Brian Vallée: “The War on Women has run longer than all of the conflicts of the last two centuries combined, including the Cold War. Only in the past 25 years has there been any significant movement to end the conflict.

In Canada, the federal government estimates the annual cost of violence against women at $1.1 billion in direct medical costs alone. 

 

That figure rises to more than $4 billion a year when social services, lost productivity, lost earnings, and police, court, and prison costs are factored in. Wars usually produce large numbers of refugees: witness the United Nations camps scattered around the world. And the War on Women has its own refugee camps, in the form of the 2,500 or so shelters for battered women and their children across North America.

 

Stephen Lewis in his foreword for “The War on Women”, describes the worldwide problem of domestic violence as “its own holocaust” and Vallée says “when you look at the numbers, calling it a ‘war’ on women is accurate and legitimate.”

*Pascale Chevalier - Danielle Sigouin - Jim Olwell