Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security - Public Safety Canada progress report - 2021-2022 and 2022-2023

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• Public Safety Canada and women, peace and security
• Countering radicalization to violence
• Human trafficking
• Correctional Service of Canada

Public Safety Canada and women, peace and security

Public Safety Canada and its various portfolio agencies are playing an important role in advancing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda over the span of Canada’s National Action Plan (the Action Plan) on WPS 2017-2022. In leading Canada’s domestic response to radicalization to violence, Public Safety ‘s Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence (Canada Centre), coordinates and develops policy expertise, mobilizes community outreach, and enhances research in countering radicalization to violence. In addition, Public Safety Canada leads the Government of Canada’s effort to combat human trafficking domestically, including support of Canada’s G7 commitments in this area. The Correctional Service of Canada, an agency within the Public Safety Portfolio, is the federal agency responsible for administering sentences of two years or more, along with supervising offenders under conditional release, as well as capacity building activities in international correctional services.

Countering radicalization to violence

The Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence (Canada Centre) leads domestic efforts for preventing and countering radicalization to violence (CRV) and violent extremism in Canada. The Canada Centre continues to bolster its CRV initiatives by integrating key tenets of Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (WPS), as well as a thorough consideration and analysis of social identity factors, including gender, and their intersectionalities within the public safety and public health nexus. Additionally, the Canada Centre is working with domestic and international partners to address key evidence gaps for prevention and intervention programming to counter radicalization to violence, including explicit focus on areas relevant to and directly involving the WPS agenda. Much of this work involves joint or coordinated investment on projects such as systematic evidence reviews, and developing resources to more effectively and appropriately measure and evaluate CRV programs.

The Canada Centre, through the Community Resilience Fund, provides funding to support the efforts of researchers, front-line practitioners, and community-based organizations to prevent and counter radicalization to violence across Canada, with $7 million available each year for new and existing projects. The 2019 call for proposals was based on the three priority areas identified within the National Strategy on Countering Radicalization to Violence (National Strategy) including: 1) building, sharing and using knowledge, 2) addressing radicalization to violence in the online space, and 3) supporting interventions. The 2019 CRF call for applications also saw the addition of a fourth funding stream – youth-led projects. This stream was made available to empower projects for youth, led by youth, using a streamlined version of the application to ensure enhanced accessibility of the fund.

Human trafficking

Canada’s 2012-16 National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking underwent a formal horizontal evaluation and the findings were published in December 2017. The evaluation recommendations called for improved capacity to collect national data on human trafficking; a mechanism to connect victims with access to dedicated services; and closer partnerships with other levels of government, Indigenous communities, civil society, the private sector, and bilateral and multilateral partners. The evaluation will help inform the Government of Canada’s way forward in combatting human trafficking.

In September and October 2018, Public Safety Canada (Public Safety) held human trafficking consultations across the country to gather stakeholder views on challenges and gaps in the federal response to trafficking in persons, to inform the development of Canada’s new national strategy to combat human trafficking.

Federal Budget 2018 announced $14.51 million over five years and $2.89 million per year ongoing to put in place a National Human Trafficking Hotline. In October 2018, following an open call for applications, the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking, a non-governmental organization (NGO), was selected through Public Safety Canada’s Contribution Program to Combat Serious and Organized Crime (CPCSOC) to implement Canada’s Human Trafficking Hotline. The Hotline was officially launched on May 29, 2019 and is operational 24/7, 365 days a year with multilingual services to allow victims to easily access the help they need.

Correctional Service of Canada

The work that CSC conducts in advancing the WPS agenda is primarily funded by GAC and thus may change from year to year.

Conclusion

While the department’s primary mission is domestic, it is contributing to the implementation of Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security through its work on countering radicalization to violence, human trafficking, and other internationally connected efforts.

Countering radicalization to violence

Completed activities

Public Safety Canada (PS) continues to implement a variety of activities through the work of the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence (Canada Centre), aimed at countering radicalization to violence (CRV) in Canada that support the Women, Peace, and Security agenda.

The Canada Centre activities from 2021-23 under Canada's Second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security include:

• Supporting online and offline efforts to counter radicalization to violence, including through the Community Resilience Fund (CRF) grants and contributions program, to address the strong connections between ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE) and hate, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and gender-based violence (GBV). For example, PS's CRF has provided funding to YWCA Canada's Block Hate: Building Resilience against Online Hate Speech Initiative, which co-creates solutions for online hate speech and hate crimes in Canadian communities. Additionally, PS's CRF committed funding to Moonshot's research project Improving Knowledge and Research Capacity on the Global Incel Community and its Canadian Impact. This project was a technology-based social enterprise working to understand and address online harms by increasing knowledge and research around the global incel community and its Canadian impact. Progress achieved in 2021 included the publication of the second report entitled Understanding and Preventing Incel Violence in Canada, which has helped to improve the understanding of the incel community and the scale of the community's online activity in Canada.
• Providing Gender-Based Analysis Plus guidance criteria for CRF applicants.
  • For example, the CRF's Open Call for Applications 2021/22 required applicants to describe how their proposed project would consider identifying factors to promote an equitable and inclusive approach in its project design, methods, analysis, dissemination and/or delivery. Considerations of gender, bias and diversity factors aimed to improve project design and efficacy by reducing potential harms or biases of policies, programs, and research. PS also gathers and analyzes data from CRF projects through performance measurement tools to examine how gender and other identity factors are considered, with the aim of supporting more effective prevention and intervention efforts.
• Hosting events to help better integrate gender and diversity considerations in the field of CRV.
  • For example, PS cohosted a workshop in spring 2021 with Women and Gender Equity entitled "Understanding Violent Misogyny: The Current Context and its Impact on Mental Health." The event featured presentations on the shift to online platforms to espouse violent misogynist ideologies, how the research/policy community has had to adjust to the growing online prevalence, as well as links between violence, mental health and gender dynamics.

Results and Progress

• During the 2021-22 period, funded programs faced several challenges stemming from the pandemic. As a result of social distancing and other COVID-19 pandemic interventions, identifying individuals at risk of radicalization to violence and engaging in early intervention proved difficult. Relatedly, conducting field work, holding events to build networks, developing capacity, and fostering trust amongst practitioners also created delays in research and programming efforts. It was also found that the impact of extended periods of isolation, or limited in-person social interactions, increased the amount of time individuals spent online and created new opportunities engaging with violent extremist rhetoric or milieus online.
• Countering radicalization to violence in the context of violent misogyny is still a nascent field. PS supports initiatives that assist with capacity-building for frontline intervention programs and expanding the evidence base of offline and online IMVE trends.

Human trafficking

Completed activities

PS continues to implement a variety of activities aimed at combatting human trafficking that support the Women, Peace, and Security agenda.

• In September 2019, the Government of Canada launched the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking (National Strategy), bringing together federal efforts under one strategic framework. Led by PS, the National Strategy is supported by an investment of $57.22 million over five years (2019-2024) and $10.28 million ongoing and implemented in partnership with other federal partners. In 2021-22 and 2022-23, PS continued to incorporate gender-responsive, trauma-informed and culturally relevant approaches in response to human trafficking.

PS activities to combat human trafficking from 2021-23 under Canada's Second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security include:

• Continuing to support and manage multi-year projects. For example, 20 projects in 2021-22 and 19 projects in 2022-23, under the Contribution Program to Combat Serious and Organized Crime to provide specialized and integrated support services for victims and survivors, and help at-risk youth better identify the signs of human trafficking and the different aspects of the crime.
• Sharing information and identified emerging trends and opportunities for collaboration with stakeholders across the country. For example, by hosting six webinar series between January 2022 - March 2023 under the theme of "Education & Awareness of Human Trafficking."
• Continuing to deliver the National Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign, which focuses on raising awareness among Canadian youth and parents of the misperceptions of human trafficking, and increase understanding of its warning signs and how to report suspected cases to the appropriate authorities.
• Continuing to support the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline, a multilingual, 24/7, toll-free service that receives reports of suspected cases and refers victims and survivors of human trafficking to local law enforcement, emergency shelters, and other trauma-informed services and supports.
• Continuing to maintain and develop strong partnerships within and outside of the Government of Canada to implement, coordinate, and manage efforts to address human trafficking in Canada and abroad.

Results and progress

• In 2021-22 and 2022-23, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to highlight and exacerbate existing shortfalls in social, political and economic systems, which in turn amplified the root causes of GBV, including human trafficking.
• The economic and social stresses and implementation of physical distancing measures increased isolation, limited contact with family/friends and other support networks, and restricted movement, increasing the risk of human trafficking by making it difficult to access supports and services needed to escape exploitative conditions.
• The Government of Canada continued to work with all partners to adapt to the challenges posed by the pandemic, and ensure that at-risk populations, victims and survivors of human trafficking continued to receive the critical resources and supports they need.

Correctional Service of Canada

Completed activities

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) continues to implement domestic and international correctional service-related activities that support the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

The CSC activities from 2021-23 under Canada's Second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security include:

• Establishing a tracking and analysis methodology for sexual coercion and violence incidents in federal custody.
• Deploying Training Facilitators to deliver training to Government Provided Corrections Personnel, United Nations (UN) personnel and national prison staff in Africa between January 2018 to March 2023. Courses offered include the Effective Practices for Gender Responsive Treatment of Women Prisoners Training and the Gender Responsive Treatment of Women Prisoners Training of Trainers. 
• The CSC facilitators, working with the UN mission in the Central African Republic to hold a virtual training session of the Gender Responsive Training for nine employees of the Central African Republic Administration pénitentiaire in February 2022. Participants revisited key concepts and practices to ensure that incarcerated women are treated with dignity, and that their needs are taken into consideration. Approaches related to gender and trauma as well as the specific needs of incarcerated women with infants were also reexamined. The session served as a refresher to the training sessions delivered in 2019 and 2020.
• Continuing to advance Women, Peace and Security priorities through the CSC participation and co-chairing of the Group of Friends of Corrections in Peace Operations. This is a forum for the provision of political, technical and personnel support to corrections work in UN peace operations that works to promote the importance of women correctional officers in peace operations activities, increases awareness of gender issues and human rights among prisoners, and promotes the inclusion of women within leadership and management positions in correctional services.
• The CSC researchers, analysts and directors holding 2 knowledge-sharing sessions with a total of 160 Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) employees in September 2021 and February 2022. Presentations provided an overview of the demographic data and social histories of incarcerated women and men who have been affected by Sexual and Gender Based Violence, and on trauma-informed approaches and programs, including post-incarceration rehabilitation. These sessions contributed to the efforts under the federal Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence led by WAGE.
• Taking on a leadership role through the Group of Friends of Corrections in Peace Operations from 2021-23, especially in establishing the first UN Justice and Corrections Service Trailblazer Award for Women Justice and Corrections Officers.

Results and progress

• Sexual coercion and violence is a highly sensitive area to do research in, especially in custodial situations. It was, and will continue to be, a challenge to do this research while respecting the sensitivities that surround these incidents and those involved in them.
• The CSC developed the "Effective Practices for Gender Responsive Treatment of Women Prisoners" training. While the initial training did not meet the expected objectives, the CSC committed to supporting participants from the Central African Republic to further integrate the concepts and inspire change.
• While the initial goal of establishing an autonomous cadre of trainers for Gender Responsive Training in the Central African Republic was not met, the CSC facilitators noted that the participants had successfully integrated the concepts since their introduction in 2019. The participants are ambassadors within their organization and hold a strong belief that the training should be expanded to their colleagues and integrated into the induction training for recruits.
• The CSC involvement in international engagements, such as the Group of Friends of Corrections in Peacekeeping Operations, and initiatives such as the Women Trailblazer Corrections award, advance and support the goals and agenda of Canada's National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.

Other efforts advanced

Completed activities

• PS advanced additional efforts from 2021-2023 under Canada’s Second National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security. These include:
  • The PS Crime Prevention Branch funding and advancing efforts on a number of research products related to cyberbullying and cyberhate targeting girls, women and the 2SLGBTQI+ community.
    • For example, working with subject matter experts to publish a report and summary on existing cyberbullying literature, with a specific focus on 2SLGBTQ+, girls, and ethno-racially diverse youth, and the funding of a Statistics Canada infographic and article titled “Online hate and aggression among young people in Canada”.
  • PS and the CSC collaborating to develop and undertake the first steps in a study on the sexual coercion and violence (SCV) in federal institutions. This study aims to understand the prevalence of these issues, especially among racialized and vulnerable groups (e.g., women, 2SLGBTQ2+), and to identify approaches for effective prevention and intervention.
    • An independent research team is currently leading a community study that focuses on individuals who had been incarcerated, but are currently under community supervision. This work is on-going and the pilot results and national study are planned for fiscal year 2024/25.

For the in-institution study, which focuses on current inmates, the research methodology is in development, with the goal of launching a request for proposal in fall 2024.