Ontario is taking important next steps to make the province safer for all women.

The province is launching its Sexual Violence Action Plan to both prevent sexual violence and improve supports for survivors. The plan includes programs designed to:

• prevent sexual violence through increased public education, including initiatives that reflect the diversity of communities across the province.
• expand and improve access to a wide range of services for survivors of sexual violence, including supports on the front lines and in healthcare settings.
• strengthen the criminal justice system’s response toward sexual violence, including increasing coordination and training for police, crown counsel and other justice personnel.

The Sexual Violence Action Plan follows province-wide consultations with survivors, service providers, and experts. It builds on the progress made under Ontario’s Domestic Violence Action Plan, launched in 2004.

• More than one-third of women 16 years and older have experienced some form of sexual assault.
• The victim and the accused are known to each other in 82 per cent of cases of sexual assault.
• The Sexual Violence Action Plan includes $15 million in funding toward educational, prevention, training and awareness programs and supports.

• Changing Attitudes, Changing Lives: Ontario’s Sexual Violence Action Plan
• 2004 Domestic Violence Action Plan
• Ontario’s Sexual Violence Action Plan
• Response to Ontario’s Sexual Violence Action Plan