MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 1, 2020
THE FEMINIST SHIFT PUBLISHES REPORT EXAMINING STATUS OF WOMEN IN WATERLOO REGION
WATERLOO REGION, Ontario – The Feminist Shift has published a report produced by the Waterloo Region chapter of Data For Good which examines the status of women as it relates to employment, poverty, sexual violence and justice outcomes.
Using public datasets and information released by the Waterloo Regional Police Services, the 47-page report, the first of its kind, analyses the social and economic health of the region.
“YW Kitchener-Waterloo requested this research be done – and we’re very greatful to Data For Good and the Sexual Assault Response Team for taking on this challenge with us. It’s critical that we understand where our community stands on gendered issues, including economic well being and justice outcomes to sexual violence, because without this knowledge we can’t build back better from this pandemic and strengthen our community ”said Jennifer Gordon, Director of Advocacy for YW Kitchener Waterloo and a lead organizer with The Feminist Shift.
“We knew this report, all of it- ancedotally, and while the data was out there, it wasn’t readily avialable. Without tangible evidence, it’s difficult to demand political change. Now that we have that data and its accessible for anyone to use, we’re hoping to see people being more empowered to demand social change.”
It’s important to note that the data mining took place before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many numbers related to employment and poverty have worsened due to things like the devastation in sectors that women occupy in our community.
Key findings in the report include:
- Women, working full time earn an average of $47,343 compared to the average of $60,702. A difference of $13,359. The overall average total income for women is $38,121 for women and $55,818 for men.
- Women are providing the essential services of our community, 85% of our health care and social assistance sector is female, 66% of our education sector is staffed by women, and 53% of our retail sector are female workers.
- Women hold 72% of part-time positions and only 66% of women in our community are employed/looking for work
The proportion of women inactive in the labour market due to personal or family responsibility (37%) is 3.1 times higher than the proportion of men (12%).
● Certain areas of Waterloo Region, even with education, age and other demographic factors accounted for, remain at very low-income levels.
In collaboration with the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) of Waterloo Region, YW Kitchener-Waterloo also requested that Data For Good examine data related to justice outcomes to sexual violence. Key findings from that research include:
● Men represented 98% of all adult charges for sexual assault.
● Waterloo Region sexual assault incidence rate per population is higher than the national average and the provincial average.
● Kitchener consistently shows a higher proportion of guilty cases in conjunction with a lower proportion of withdrawn cases compared to Ontario overall.
To read the full report, visit https://thefeministshift.ca/feminist-data-on-waterloo-region/
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The Feminist Shift is a collaboration between YWCA Cambridge and YW Kitchener-Waterloo. It was formed with the goal of eliminating gender-based violence in Waterloo Region. They approach this by focusing their feminist discourse on basic rights (particularly as they relate to economic autonomy) as precipitating factors to violence. The Feminist Shift takes a strong systemic focus to their advocacy and aim to acknowledge those elements that contribute to violence in addition to tackling violence itself. Find out more at thefeministshift.ca.
For More Information:
Jennifer Gordon, Director of Advocacy, YW KW, Feminist Shift, Jennifer.gordon@ywkw.ca
Sara Casselman, ED Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region and Co-chair of the Sexual Assault Response Team, sara@sascwr.org