The Steel City Ally Community Campaign calls upon allies to end gender-based violence. Through an online promise (or pledge), allies can take their #firststepfirstchange. This is a call to action to end gender-based violence.
In Canada, a woman or girl is killed every 2.5 days and half of all Canadian women have experienced at least incident of either sexual or physical abuse. These are alarming statistics and a reminder that we must work towards ending gender-based violence. Across Canada, shelters provide safe beds to women and children fleeing violence; however, there are never enough safe beds on any given night. COVID-19 only exasperated an already overextended shelter system. When the government issued Stay At Home Orders, women across Canada found themselves trapped in homes where violence grew.
The Steel City Allies is a great example of a call to action that both raises awareness and brings allies together. As the number of allies grow, there is a collective strength that also grows. Through online pledges, allies show they are willing to work towards violence-free living and gender parity. If you haven’t gone online and joined the Steel City Allies take a moment and sign-up. A call to action means we are no longer willing to stay silent, while others are being harmed. A call to action means we are taking steps to be heard. In April, our goal is to increase our Steel City Allies and collectively take our #firststepfirstchange towards ending gender-based violence.