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Government proclaims May as Sexual Violence Awareness Month

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The government is proclaiming May as Sexual Violence Awareness Month and is taking action to challenge attitudes, promote a culture of consent and raise awareness about sexual violence in Alberta.

Premier Notley and Minister Sabir proclaim Sexual Violence Awareness Month and announce the government-wide Commitment to End Sexual Violence with dozens of community organizations, advocates and survivors.

To start the month, the province is launching a new Commitment to End Sexual Violence. Developed through extensive consultation with dozens of front line providers, advocates and survivors, the commitment brings ten government ministries and community organizations together to deliver a coordinated, province wide response to address sexual violence in Alberta.

“Every Albertan deserves to live free from sexual harassment and assault. Sexualized violence is a crime of power and control, and governments have a duty to lead, to offer hope and healing to survivors, to make workplaces and campuses safe and to tackle the inequality at the root of this violence that most impacts women and girls.”

Rachel Notley, Premier

The commitment has three pillars:

  • Shift the culture towards believing survivors, challenging harmful myths and building a culture of consent
  • Improve the way Alberta’s social, health, justice and education systems respond to sexual violence
  • Support individuals by funding frontline services for survivors and delivering education and prevention programs

“I never thought I would see this day. Raising awareness about sexual violence not only helps bring these crimes out of the shadows, it’s clear with this commitment today that, for the first time, the priorities of government reflect me and the needs of survivors across this province.”

Carlynn McAneeley, survivor of sexual violence 

During May, the province will announce initiatives to support the commitment and build on actions taken to address and prevent sexual harassment and assault.

Since 2015 government has invested close to $52 million to support a range of programs and services to prevent sexual violence and support survivors in communities across Alberta, including:

  • Provided more supports for survivors of sexual violence with a historic $8.1 million investment to increase access to counselling and cut wait times, add police and court support and provide crisis help in more communities.
  • A $1.2 million grant over three years at the Zebra Child Protection Centre for mental health support and counselling services for survivors of sexual and physical child abuse.
  • Increased funding by $25 million to help Family and Community Support Services address sexual violence, family violence, gender inequality and to promote healthy relationships. 
  • Funded the successful #IBelieveYou campaign to promote a cultural shift toward supporting survivors and breaking the silence around sexual violence.
  • Boosted funding for women’s shelters by $15 million to help ensure no woman fleeing violence is turned away.
  • Increased access to the legal system for survivors by removing the time limit for to bring forward civil claims.
  • Made it easier for survivors to get out of dangerous situations by allowing them to break residential leases without financial penalty.
  • Provided $80,000 grant from Status of Women to stage a play about consent in high schools to educate teens about gender equality and healthy relationships.

“We are pleased to be a partner in the government’s commitment to prevent sexual violence and provide better support to those who are affected. Sexual violence is a problem that affects all communities in our province and will require a united effort by government, community organizations and individuals to eliminate.”

Debra Tomlinson, chief executive director, Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services

Commitment to End Sexual Violence:

“Every Albertan has the right to live free from violence. Perpetrators of sexual violence violate that right.

“The Government of Alberta does not tolerate these abuses of power and control. Though anyone can experience sexual violence, we recognize it impacts women and girls most. We stand firmly with survivors, advocates and community agencies to stop sexual violence in all its forms.

“We commit to supporting survivors, improving our response, and shifting to a culture of consent by advancing gender equality. We will work until all survivors are believed and supported, and this violence is eradicated from our communities.”

Quick facts:

  • Sexual violence is the most under-reported crime in Canada. Ninety-five per cent of survivors do not report their assaults to police.
  • Sexual violence most often affects women and girls. Eighty-seven per cent of survivors are women and 94 per cent of perpetrators are men.
  • In 2014, 83,000 Albertans reported sexual assaults.
  • Sexual violence is defined as a sexual act committed against someone without that person’s freely given consent. It can involve physical or non-physical contact, affect all ages and genders, and the person committing the act might be known or be a stranger.

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UK Supreme Court rules ‘woman’ means biological female

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Susan Smith (L) and Marion Calder, directors of ‘For Women Scotland’ cheer as they leave the Supreme Court on April 16, 2025, in London, England after winning their appeal in defense of biological reality

From LifeSiteNews

By Michael Haynes, Snr. Vatican Correspondent

The U.K. Supreme Court has issued a ruling stating that “woman” in law refers to a biological female, and that transgender “women” are not female in the eyes of the law.

In a unanimous verdict, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled today that legally transgender “women” are not women, since a woman is legally defined by “biological sex.”

Published April 16, the Supreme Court’s 88-page verdict was handed down on the case of Women Scotland Ltd (Appellant) v. The Scottish Ministers (Respondent). The ruling marks the end of a battle of many years between the Scottish government and women’s right campaigners who sought to oppose the government’s promotion of transgender ideology.

In 2018, the Scottish government issued a decision to allow the definition of “woman” to include men who assume their gender to be female, opening the door to allowing so-called “transgender” individuals to identify as women.

This guidance was challenged by women’s rights campaigners, arguing that a woman should be defined in line with biological sex, and in 2022 the Scottish government was forced to change its definition after the court found that such a move was outside the government’s “legislative competence.”

Given this, the government issued new guidance which sought to cover both aspects: saying that biological women are women, but also that men with a “gender recognition certificate” (GRC) are also considered women. A GRC is given to people who identify as the opposite sex and who have had medical or surgical interventions in an attempt to “reassign” their gender.

Women Scotland Ltd appealed this new guidance. At first it was rejected by inner courts, but upon their taking the matter to the Supreme Court in March last year, the nation’s highest judicial body took up the case.

Today, with the ruling issued against transgender ideology, women’s campaigners are welcoming the news as a win for women’s safety.

“A thing of beauty,” praised Lois McLatchie Miller from the Alliance Defending Freedom legal group.

“Victory,” commented Charlie Bently-Astor, a prominent campaigner for biological reality against the transgender movement, after she nearly underwent surgical transition herself at a younger age.

“After 15 years of insanity, the U.K. Supreme Court has ruled that men who say they are ‘trans women’ are not women,” wrote leader of the Christian political movement David Kurten.

Leader of the Conservative Party – the opposition to the current Labour government – Kemi Badenoch welcomed the court’s ruling, writing that “saying ‘trans women are women’ was never true in fact and now isn’t true in law, either.”

 

Others lamented the fact that the debate even was taking place, let alone having gone to the Supreme Court.

“What a parody we live in,” commented Reform Party candidate Joseph Robertson.

Rupert Lowe MP – who has risen to new prominence in recent weeks for his outspoken condemnation of the immigration and rape gang crisis – wrote, “Absolute madness that we’re even debating what a woman is – it’s a biological fact. No amount of woke howling will ever change that.”

However, the Supreme Court did not wish to get pulled into siding with certain arguments, with Lord Hodge of the tribunal stating that “we counsel against reading this judgment as a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another. It is not.”

The debate has taken center stage in the U.K. in recent years, not least for the role played by the current Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Starmer himself has become notorious throughout the nation for his contradictions and inability to answer the question of what a woman is, having flip-flopped on saying that a woman can have a penis, due to his support for the transgender movement.

At the time of going to press, neither Starmer nor his deputy Angela Rayner issued a statement about the Supreme Court ruling. There has been no statement issued from the Scottish government either, nor from the office of the first minister.

Transgender activists have expectedly condemned the ruling as “a disgusting attack on trans rights.” One leading transgender campaigner individual told Sky News, “I am gutted to see the judgement from the Supreme Court which ends 20 years of understanding that transgender people with a GRC are able to be, for all intents and purposes, legally recognized as our true genders.”

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International

Tulsi Gabbard tells Trump she has ‘evidence’ voting machines are ‘vulnerable to hackers’

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From LifeSiteNews

By Stephen Kokx

Last month, Trump signed an executive order directing federal election-related funds to be conditioned on states “complying with the integrity measures set forth by Federal law, including the requirement that states use the national mail voter registration form that will now require proof of citizenship.”

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced during a Cabinet meeting last week at the White House that voting machines across the U.S. are not secure.

“We have evidence of how these electronic voting systems have been vulnerable to hackers for a very long time, and vulnerable to exploitation to manipulate the results of the votes being cast,” she said about a half hour into the meeting.

 

Gabbard’s remarks confirm what millions of Americans have long suspected about elections across the U.S.

President Donald Trump himself has maintained skepticism of current voting methods and has called for paper ballots to prevent cheating.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell was one of only a few voices to publicly argue that voting machines, like those run by Dominion and Smartmatic which were used during the 2020 presidential election, were compromised. GOP Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene took to X to praise the businessman after Gabbard made her remarks.

“Mike Lindell along with MANY others vindicated!!” she exclaimed on X. “Another conspiracy theory being proven right! Guess what Democrats already knew this and publicly talked about it in 2019! And then lied and lied and lied!!!”

 

Last month, Trump signed an executive order directing federal election-related funds to be conditioned on states “complying with the integrity measures set forth by Federal law, including the requirement that states use the national mail voter registration form that will now require proof of citizenship.”

Congress has also taken steps to ensure election integrity by voting on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (also known as the SAVE Act) last week. Dubbed “controversial” by the media and left-wing groups, the common sense bill would require persons to show proof of citizenship before voting. The House approved the measure 220-208 with four Democrats in support. The bill now heads to the Senate where it will face an uphill battle for the required 60 votes. Republicans currently have a 53 seat majority.

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