Community-Based Research: Gender-Based Violence in Partnership with YWCA Canada

Overview of Research

The Muslim Advisory Council of Canada held two virtual roundtable discussions in February 2021 bringing together subject matter experts, survivors, religious leaders and community organizers. Of the 18 participants, a vast majority were women who had lived experience with intimate partner violence and/or sexual exploitation. We also had a large number of women who are living with disabilities and who identify as non-binary and gender diverse. Finally, we also did have male participants and although the majority of participants were from Ontario, we did have some participants from other provinces too. This wide diversity in the participants allowed us to gain a better understanding of the lived experiences of these Muslims across intersectionalities and backgrounds.

Summary of Findings

Muslim women's experiences of gender-based violence is compounded with the additional barriers they often experience, such as language barriers, cultural shock, limited knowledge of the Canadian legal, justice and immigration system, limited knowledge and access to resources as well as racism and discrimination, as with any minority and marginalized community.

The second part of our community engagement initiative was a survey with 157 participants. The majority of participants were from Ontario followed by Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec. There were also respondents from New Brunswick, Nunavut and Yukon. Demographically, the majority of participants were women between the ages of 35-44 years old. Of those participants, 44 identify as racialized, 33 participants identified as refugees, immigrants or non-status while 36 identified as belonging to a language minority community. We also had participants who identify as members of the 2SLCBTQQI+ communities, Black Muslims living with a disability, and those with lived experience of sexual exploitation.