Taking Action on the Declaration of Intimate Partner Violence as an Epidemic - by Councillor Lily Cheng, seconded by Mayor Olivia Chow

Every six days, a woman in Canada is murdered by her intimate partner. There are elevated risks of violence for women who may identify as Indigenous, with disabilities, visible minority, and 2SLGBTQ+. To build on the work underway, staff from People and Equity, Indigenous Affairs Office, and Social Development, Finance Administration will engage gender-based violence and intimate partner violence community organizations in developing a terms of reference and quarterly meeting schedule for the working group. The group will be tasked with identifying key actions the City can take and engage other orders of government on. The actions will be incorporated into the City's Gender Equity Strategy, currently under development. Actions identified will also be incorporated into the work with Indigenous communities to implement Action 12 of City's Reconciliation Action Plan - Implement the Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWGT2S+). This motion is urgent as City Council voted unanimously on July 19, 2023 to declare Intimate Partner Violence to be an epidemic and 62 victims have died by femicide in Ontario to date in 2023. Last year 6,752 calls were made to the Assaulted Women's Helpline from women seeking safety in violence against women shelters in Toronto but only 10 percent of them secured a violence against women bed due to capacity.

2. City Council request Chief People Officer to work with the working group to: 1. advise on developing key actions to align Intimate Partner Violence-related priorities across city divisions including but not limited to Social Development, Finance and Administration, People and Equity, Toronto Public Health, Toronto Police Service and 311 to ensure gaps identified by community organizations are addressed, 2. advise on measurable outcomes focused on collaborative synchronicity across divisions, and 3. advise on engaging the provincial and federal governments to support any key actions in need of their support.