Obstacles to abortion: a form of violence, says Monsef

Federal Minister of Women’s Affairs Maryam Monsef believes that any barrier to women’s reproductive health services, including access to abortion, is a form of gender-based violence.

“Reproductive rights in Canada and around the world are crucial to advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment,” she told The Canadian Press in an interview on Thursday.

“We are committed to ensuring that women and girls have this choice, otherwise it is a form of gender-based violence.”

That’s why his department is allocating almost $ 300,000 to Ottawa’s Birth Planning organization for a three-year project. This project aims to improve services for women who are bullied in their reproductive rights. Some are forced to complete a pregnancy or, conversely, to undergo an abortion; Others have difficulty getting contraception.

For women living in marginalized communities, these barriers can come from family and loved ones, but also from the system itself.

During the interview, Minister Monsef did not say Donald Trump, but the specter of the American president was floating in the air, while hammering that the rights related to the procreation, in Canada and elsewhere In the world, are an integral part of gender equality.

“We know all the research that is done here, all the promising practices, the values ​​of this country. We know that this is an important issue that needs to be addressed. Canada’s support for sexual and reproductive health programs and the protection of women’s rights remains unchanged, “she said.

The new Minister of Status of Women argued that her government still believes in women’s free access to reproductive health services, both here and around the world.

The non-clinic grant to Ottawa Birth Planning will allow the organization to develop a specific protocol for providers of reproductive health services for abused women. According to Status of Women Canada, the organization applied for a grant in fiscal year 2015-2016 and the project would have met the criteria set by the former Conservative government anyway.

International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau recently announced that Canada will increase the share of development assistance for sexual and reproductive health to offset the end of US funding. The government could contribute to the international fund founded by the Netherlands so that women in developing countries have access to abortion, among other things.

Ms Bibeau is due to participate in the international meeting on this subject which will take place in Brussels on 2 March, confirmed a spokesman for the minister, Louis Bélanger.

Ms. Monsef highlighted the work done by her colleague. “It works to ensure the rights of all women around the world to be able to rely on reproductive health services. We believe in it both for women living here and for those living abroad. “