Poverty and violence are unfortunate and daily realities in the lives of many thousands of women across Canada. Violence against women knows no geographical or cultural boundaries and it affects all women regardless of their level of income. However, for many women, poverty adds another dimension to the pain and suffering they experience as a result of being abused. Poverty limits choices and access to the means to protect and free oneself from violence. It also means more barriers to using services and programs that can help. The purpose of Breaking the Links Between Poverty and Violence Against Women: A Resource Guide is to support the efforts of women’s groups, community organizations and service agencies to support low-income women to take control of and deal with the poverty and violence in their lives. A secondary goal is to inspire community-based groups to take action on poverty and violence issues by providing practical examples of what others are doing. Although other resources have partially addressed the needs of low-income women, this document is devoted to exploring the ways in which poverty and violence are linked, what this means for women and for the groups that are trying to help. Violence keeps women in conditions of poverty, and poverty, or fear of poverty, keeps women trapped in violent situations.
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