International Women’s Day 2023

by ArchwayEngagement | Mar 6, 2023 | Events

A feature blog by Micki Materi Co-Ed of Programs.

Happy International Women’s Day!
Nellie McClung once said,” We must remember the past to understand the present and face the future”

We must look back to the beginning of the 20th century to find the truth and strength of International Women’s Day. In the midst of social turbulence, IWD was born in the hearts of women who persevered through strikes, fights and demonstrations for the right to vote , fair wages and decent working conditions. In North America we commemorate IWD because of two major events. The general strike in the New York Garment district in 1909 where 30,000 women organized, striked, and unionized. The other event was the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire on March 25th, 1911 which took the lives of 175 women and children. These events were caused by appalling working conditions and slave wages.

It’s a day to celebrate our achievements, to reflect on the progress we have made and to commit and dedicate ourselves to the continued work ahead. We must understand that progress has only been achieved by women standing together in solidarity and sisterhood. We must always remember that the rights we take for granted today were fought long and hard for by women whose only goal was to make the world a better place for us, and we have a responsibility to continue the work for the people of tomorrow.
We have come a long way, but we still have a journey ahead. We have choices, we have reproductive rights, our earning capacity has increased, although we are still earning on average 75cents to every dollar a man earns.  Violence Against Women and Poverty are still the biggest barriers for women and the impact of these barriers are increased depending on your race, sexuality, gender identity, ability, and age. “We won’t achieve equality until we eliminate violence against women and we won’t eliminate violence against women until we achieve equality.” This is a quote from the Report of the Federal Panel on Violence Against Women in 1993. Poverty makes it difficult to leave an abusive relationship and poverty is often the result of leaving an abusive relationship.

Pursuing true equality means recognizing and meeting all peoples’ diverse needs.
We must focus on improving equality for those most marginalized in order to improve equality for all. which means we need to listen!
Larissa Crawford founder and Managing Editor of Future Ancestors shared her thoughts with FLARE magazine in 2020 regarding the need for International Women’s Day and these were her final thoughts :
“IWD must move beyond a mutual admiration congregation towards creating space to be critical of one another: to be critical of who holds privilege, who benefits from another’s oppression, who is complacent, who is not getting their due recognition. And there are many, many people who are advancing IWD exactly in that direction. The question then becomes, are we willing to listen?””
As Rosemary Brown once said “Until all of us have made it – none of us have made it.”

We must also be persistent and patient.

As someone who has been involved for 30 years in the advancement of women, I have experienced some of the progress, and yes, the process of change can be very slow, and in this day and age when we expect instant gratification and we need to express ourselves in 200 characters or use pictures or emojis, it might seem a little daunting. But I can tell you that it has been the journey that has solidified my absolute belief without a doubt in my mind 100 thousand percent that women are the strength of society, the true leaders that will create a future where everyone matters, where we all win, and where we will have a future free from violence.

I know this because, over the course of 30 years working with women has demonstrated our ability to be naturally inclusive, to question the status quo and to seek new ideas, to listen and respect other perspectives, Share knowledge. We naturally work from a perspective of power with rather than power over. We want to ensure that everyone feels okay. And we know that in order to achieve, we need to value the insights of everyone. We know that Collaborative leadership is the best way to ensure inclusivity. We know that if we want to make the world a better place then we need to do it –together. One woman can change anything – Many women can change everything.

AGM 2020

by archwayadmin | Jun 10, 2020 | Events

Annual General Meeting

June 23, 2020

via ZOOM Meeting

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, we will be hosting our 2020 Annual General Meeting using a virtual platform. Please join us to learn what we have been up to this past year, what has changed in our agency and what is in store for the coming year.

Tuesday, June 23, 2020   

    AGM starts at 6:00 p.m.   

Virtually via Zoom

We look forward to seeing you at our AGM and letting you know all the great ways we are supporting women, children and families to live with dignity and respect, free from domestic and sexual violence.

RSVP by June 19th

preventionawareness@archwaysociety.ca  Or 250.503.8097

 Once you have confirmed your attendance we will send you the meeting link as well as AGM Agenda & AGM Booklet.

We look forward to you joining us on June 23, 2020

For more information call our administration office 250.558.3850

We all have a role to play in keeping kids safe

by archwayadmin | May 11, 2020 | Events

Child Abuse Reporting on the Decline. British Columbia Network of Child and Youth Advocacy Centres urging community action

Today, the British Columbia (BC) Network of Child and Youth Advocacy Centres is releasing a public service announcement aimed at educating citizens in our province on the moral and legal obligation to report suspicions of child abuse. We are particularly concerned during this time where the typical safeguards for children and youth who experience abuse are impacted.

CYACs provide a safe place where children and youth who have experienced abuse can go to tell their story and be supported throughout the entire disclosure, investigation, judicial and healing journey.

As citizens of British Columbia, we all have a role to play in keeping kids safe

• For immediate help call 911 or find your local police detachment here
• If you are a child or youth and need help call 310-1234 – Ministry of Children and Family Development Helpline for Children
• If you have a concern about a child or youth’s safety call 1-800-663-9122 – Ministry of Children and Family Development
• For support contact Oak Child and Youth Advocacy Centre or call VictimLinkBC at 1-800-563-0808 or email VictimLinkBC@bc211.ca to receive information and be connected to the nearest victim services program.

The BC Network of Child and Youth Advocacy Centres represents over 100 professionals responding to child abuse across BC who work as part of a CYAC team in these communities: Kamloops, Kelowna, Kootenay/Boundary Region, Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows, Prince George, Surrey, Vancouver, Vernon, and Victoria.

For Media Release – BC Network of Child and Youth Advocacy Centres, visit: BCCYAC Media Release May 11 2020

For more information, please contact:

Ginny Becker: 778-363-4974 | Ginny@CACkelowna.com OR
Leah Zille: 604-808-3809 | leah@treehousevancouver.ca