The City’s Gender Based Violence and Sexual Assault Prevention Council Initiative is dedicated to ending gender-based violence and sexual assaults in Edmonton.
Under this initiative, in 2016, Edmonton became the second city in Canada to join the United Nations Women Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global program.
As a Safe City, we are committed to innovative approaches to preventing and addressing sexual violence against women and girls in public spaces. View the Executive Director’s UN Women’s address.
In 2017, Edmonton completed a Safe City study on sexual violence in our city. We learned what forms of sexual violence happen most often, where the violence is occurring and who are most often the victims of this violence.
In response to the Safe City study, in 2018, community groups, indigenous organizations, academia, corporate partners and government came together as the Edmonton Safe City Community Collaboration Committee to recommend strategies and actions to make public spaces safer for women and girls in Edmonton.
The Collaboration Committee’s work incorporates research, expertise and leading practices from other Safe Cities from around the world and has aligned its work with research done in Edmonton.