Indigenous Violence Funding

New funding for B.C.’s Path Forward Community Fund will support Indigenous-led solutions to violence against women, girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ people, and promote community safety, capacity building and self determination in addressing systemic causes of gender-based violence.

With $5 million in new funding through the National Plan to end Gender-based Violence, the government says it has invested $15.84 million into the Path Forward Community Fund since 2022. It’s managed by the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres and has financed 51 Indigenous-led community projects to date.

Murray Rankin, B.C.’s Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation says this type of funding gets resources directly to Indigenous communities “so cultural solutions, preventative measures and healing can continue.”

The Province has also released its 2024 status update to A Path Forward: Priorities and Early Strategies for B.C., which responds to the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

It says key actions it has taken include the Anti-Racism Act, which establishes a whole-of-government approach to dismantling systemic racism and advancing racial equity, and the Gender-Based Violence Action Plan that sets out important steps the Province is taking to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.

The release of the report coincided with the fifth anniversary of Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls.