Scaling the Summit
Be the Peace Institute and collaborators
With funding from Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women
April 2, 2024 - November 1, 2025
This project is funded by the NS Status of Women Office to follow up on strategic actions from the conversations that took place at the IWD Summit in March of 2024, co-hosted by Be the Peace Institute and Leeside Society. That event included over 150 people with a stake in preventing and ending gender-based violence (GBV) across sectors in Nova Scotia. The aim was to explore moving forward in some new, innovative ways.
Since then, several working groups have developed on specific topics identified as priorities in the intersection of GBV prevention and response. These are open groups and we welcome more participation from anyone interested across community, government, academia, survivors, and elsewhere. One of the working groups was dedicated to planning the next GBV Summit which took place in April of 2025 and offered another opportunity to extend these strategic sector conversations to address GBV.
Working Groups:
GBV Sector Coordination:
Formed in response to the recognition that women’s organizations in the non-profit GBV sector face similar challenges but too often work in isolation the goal of this group is to build coalitions and foster mutual support among people working in the sector. Opportunities arising in this group include providing space for a community of practice, knowledge/resource sharing, and joint advocacy and action toward common goals. Currently, the work of this group is focused on exploring the need and feasibility of an infrastructure for our collective efforts across the GBV prevention and response sector.
Activities:
NS GBV Sector Survey – for all working in the sector or related to these issues. Exploring priority sector needs and the idea of an innovation lab/ coordinating infrastructure for the sector that would sustain the collaboration, knowledge and resource mobilization, and strategic collective action to move the needle on GBV in Nova Scotia.
Diane Crocker, professor of Crim at St Mary’s University has offered to work with a research assistant to synthesize the survey – that will be ready to share soon.
To learn more, check out the group description and activities.
Collective GBV Advocacy:
Initiated through the work of the GBV Sector Coordination Group, acknowledging the need for collective action to address the systemic injustices of gender-based violence in Nova Scotia. This group is an intentional space to collectively identify the most urgent issues/needs for the sector from diverse vantage points and to advocate with colleagues in government to address GBV issues most effectively.
Activities:
Develop and implement an advocacy strategy, including goal setting, identifying target audiences, gathering evidence, communicating and raising awareness, and taking collective action on priority areas.
To date we have reached out to all Nova Scotia political party leaders and media on needed attention and funding for GBV organizations and prevention efforts. This resulted in a meeting with the NS Executive Deputy Minister highlighting 8 key areas for action. We will continue these advocacy efforts and conversations after the election.
To learn more, check out the group description and activities.
Population Health Approach to GBV Prevention:
This group is working on developing a framework to inform strategic actions for government/community collaboration to prevent GBV from a ‘root cause’ or population health approach. This approach addresses a range of Social Determinants of Health, like income, education, support, physical environment, gender, race, etc., to improve the health status of the entire population or a subset (youth, women…) The root causes of poor health are also the root causes of GBV. A very strong correlation in the Mass Casualty Commission report was that preventing GBV would also prevent mass casualties, and the way to do so is through investment in prevention, and public health strategies over carceral/justice responses. Ending GBV requires multi-sector collaboration, diverse strategies in diverse settings and a ‘whole of society’/ public involvement response.
Activities:
Looking at key reports including recent GBV-related and international child wellbeing and commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth (CSEC) frameworks.
Creating a ‘one-pager’ pitch to government identifying priorities for action and funding. Strategic conversations with community, govt and public health colleagues continues.
Forming a sub committee to compile and synthesize global, Canadian and Nova Scotian data on risk factors for GBV, centring first voice research from and by under-served and marginalized populations. The goal of this committee is to craft a report outlining key risk factors in NS that may be influencing our high GBV rates and offering recommendations to address them.
Co-hosted a learning opportunity with the IWK Mental Health Promotion Team to bring international researcher, Dr. Elizabeth Such to Nova Scotia - Director of Knowledge for Public Health (KNOW-PH), Nottingham University, focused on bringing public health evidence closer to policy and practice and population health approaches to address human trafficking and exploitation in the UK. The day was an opportunity to apply Dr. Such’s findings and explore, learn and innovate ways to address population health and whole system approaches to address gender based violence, human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Nova Scotia. This event was partially funded by Injury Free Nova Scotia.
To learn more, check out the group description and activities.
Planning the GBV Summit 2025:
This diverse planning team across 15 organizations of 23 individuals, planned our second annual GBV Summit: From Epidemic to Action which took place on April 7- 8 @ Oak Island Resort and Conference Centre.
Activities:
Proposal writing and budget
Event planning: speakers, panels, facilitation, venue, logistics, communications to participants, and report writing to ensure a highly participatory, diverse and safe space and time over two days.
Report writing and synthesizing possible next steps.
Stay tuned for our event report!
Violence and Harassment in Politics:
Women, gender non-binary, racially and culturally diverse people are regularly targeted by sexist and racist harassment, rhetoric and sometimes threats, when they run for office. This sometime dissuades them from running at all and can put them in danger when they do. This group is raising awareness about sexual harassment, misogyny and racism in the political process and strategies to address it before and after election.
Activities:
Violence & Harassment in Politics 3-part panel series –
November 19th - Political Representation: A History of Advocacy- Canada & Beyond How violence and harassment threaten Canada’s democracy and what actions are needed to address it.
December 3rd - The NS Context of diversity in politics
December 10th - A Vision for Change: Calls to action to eliminate gender-based violence, harassment and discrimination in Canadian politics.
Online Survey - to collect experiences & stories of harassment in politics for women, gender nonbinary and racially and culturally diverse people while they are campaigning, when they are in office or what dissuaded them from entering politics - to inform a public awareness campaign & strategies for action. Plans are underway to update and expand this survey to include all of Atlantic Canada and more diverse audiences.
Collaborating on a Spring 2026 event focused on Harassment of Women/Gender Diverse Leaders with the Alexa McDonough Institute at Mount Saint Vincent University.
See more including panel recordings and survey findings in our recent blog!
To learn more, check out the group description and activities.
Healing Retreats for Service Providers:
Front line workers and leadership across the GBV sector are dealing with real and vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue working in this challenging field. High levels of burnout and turnover even as demand grows, increase stress on everyone. We need to turn our care-taking inward to ensure the well-being of those in the sector is prioritized and supported.
Activities: A pilot healing retreat for staff was held in January 2025. Scaling the Summit project can support other organizations who want to plan and host a retreat.
To learn more, check out the group description and findings.
Newcomer & Immigrant Populations and GBV:
This newly formed working group was established by service providers and researchers who are focused on addressing the needs of newcomer and immigrant communities and answers an urgent need to develop innovative and culturally responsive solutions to better address issues impacting women from these communities who are experiencing gender-based violence. This space also offers opportunity for those serving these communities to connect and strategize.
If you are interested in learning more or would like to join, please get in touch!
Housing & GBV:
This newly formed group aligned with the Scaling the Summit WGs was established by Welcome Housing & Support Services to address the common challenges faced by housing organizations, specifically where housing and gender-based violence intersect and to develop a coordinated network to facilitate information sharing, advocacy, and cross-sector engagement and strengthen partnerships between GBV service providers and housing/other related sectors.
If you are interested in learning more or would like to join, please get in touch!
Emerging Working Groups:
Education & Training for the GBV Sector:
There is no standardized approach to training interdisciplinary professionals or staff on GBV. Currently training is ad hoc, uncoordinated, piecemeal- each organization or department creating their own and potentially duplicating effort. This group will explore a collaborative approach to training and development across sectors and govt departments within a training hub accessible to all, so resources, training curriculum, trainers can be mobilized to increase the knowledge and capacity across Nova Scotia.
Tackling Issues & Divisions Within the Sector:
The GBV Sector can include anybody whose paid or unpaid work routinely exposes them to survivors or perpetrators of GBV, the stories of survivors or perpetrators, and/or the trauma caused by GBV, and can include but is not limited to organizations and individuals who offer frontline support and intervention, prevention work, advocacy and research. The sector is currently over burdened and under funded. Historic tensions exist due to competition for limited funding hampering potential for needed collaboration, systemic harms, vicarious trauma and moral injury, and ongoing systemic discrimination and oppression including across the GBV sector itself. In order to effectively address our high rates of violence in NS, we need greater inclusion of those voices often excluded from decision making tables and safe spaces to unearth and address historic and ongoing sector tensions to make way for genuine collaboration and innovative solutions.
To learn more about any of these emerging groups, please get in touch!
*Just some of the collaborative colleagues involved so far:
Access to Justice & Law Reform Institute NS
Toronto Metropolitan University
MODL Municipal Councillors
la Fédération des femmes acadiennes de la Nouvelle Écosse
Waves of Change
Empowerment for Hope
African Nova Scotian Justice Institute
Every Women’s Centre
Bryony House
Adsum House
Pictou County Women’s Resource & Sexual Assault Centre
Anglicans Powering Potential
Feminists Fighting Femicide
Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre
SchoolsPlus South Shore
South Shore Family Resource Association
Nisa Foundation
Sisterhood
Welcome Housing & Support Services
Root & Branch Consulting
Lawyers
Halifax Sexual Health Centre
Chrysalis House
Juniper House
The Youth Project
Mount Saint Vincent University
Dalhousie University
Transition House Association of NS
Avalon Sexual Assault Centre
Kristina Fifield Trauma Therapy
Trans/Non-Binary Rights Advocacy NS
Second Story Women’s Centre
Harbour House
South Shore Sexual Health
We Worthy Women
Can’t Buy My Silence
Survivors for Change and Empowerment
YMCA GBV Prevention
YWCA Halifax
Immigrant Services Association of NS
Saint Mary’s University
Immigrant Migrant Women Association of Halifax
IWK Health Promotion
E Fry of Mainland NS
Association of Black Social Workers
NS Government Dept of Justice
NS Government Citizen Centred Approaches
Public Health (NSH and DoHW)
Lunenburg County Community Health Board
Priority Kids
African Nova Scotian Justice Institute
New Start Counselling
Every Woman’s Centre
Lunenburg Pride
Health Assoc of African Canadians