A Girl Growing Up in Canada Has a 50% Chance of Being Physically or Sexually Abused in Her Lifetime
A new ad campaign by the Canadian Women’s Foundation demonstrates the reality that many girls born in the country face – poverty and abuse.
The organization says that a girl growing up in Canada has a 1 in 2 chance of being physically or sexually abused in her lifetime. The message of the campaign? “It’s tougher than you think.”
The Foundation’s manager of marketing and communications, Sarah Barker, said they decided to launch the campaign because: “We’ve noticed in the past few years that people have started to think that the issues we work on aren’t really issues in Canada anymore.”
With statistics as jarring as 1 in 2, it should become clear to anyone who sees the ad that sexual and physical abuse are still an issue in Canada.
A new ad campaign by the Canadian Women’s Foundation demonstrates the reality that many girls born in the country face – poverty and abuse.
The organization says that a girl growing up in Canada has a 1 in 2 chance of being physically or sexually abused in her lifetime. The message of the campaign? “It’s tougher than you think.”
The Foundation’s manager of marketing and communications, Sarah Barker, said they decided to launch the campaign because: “We’ve noticed in the past few years that people have started to think that the issues we work on aren’t really issues in Canada anymore.”
With statistics as jarring as 1 in 2, it should become clear to anyone who sees the ad that sexual and physical abuse are still an issue in Canada.
The TV ad will run on CityTV across the country and print ads will run in space provided by Rogers Media in their women focused publications.
The goal of the campaign is to educate and empower young women and girls to speak out, knowing they are not alone.
The President of CWF, Beverley Wybrow, told the Vancouver Observer “It’s not about changing individuals to fit into bad systems – it’s also about changing bad systems. I’ve been working on women’s issues for 35 years. The issues have changed over the years … we try to make sure women have a voice.” She says the foundation’s goal is to help women help each other, rather than waiting for “men and the government.” They have, she says, a feminist vision of philanthropy.
The Canadian Women’s Foundation also runs a campaign called Women Moving Women, which is an effort to help the 1 in 7 Canadian women that live in poverty. The foundation was founded in 1991 and has funded over 1100 projects to date. This is the first time they’ve created a national ad campaign.
