December 21, 2022 – EVA Canada submitted a brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women for its study on Women and Girls in Sport.
In the brief, EVA Canada highlighted the impact of sexual violence on the participation of women and girls in sport. We emphasized that when women and girls are sexually mistreated while participating in sport, the negative consequences are not just significant mental health or other injuries, but also the perpetuation of a sport culture in which women and girls are not treated with dignity and perpetrators are not held to account.
EVA Canada put forward four recommendations to the Committee:
- Prioritize sexual violence prevention and culture change.
- Provide research funding to further develop the evidence base on sexual violence associated with sport in Canada, as well as best practices for supporting survivors of this violence.
- Provide increased funding to community-based sexual assault centres to support athlete-survivors in crisis.
- Ensure accountability mechanisms and safe avenues for survivors in sport to report sexual violence.
Read our complete submission here.