Is it trafficking?

Examining gender-based violence among women who do informal, precarious, non-standard work.

“Is it trafficking? Examining gender-based violence among women who do informal, precarious, non-standard work” is a three-year research project GAATW Canada is conducting in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Yukon.

This project will document the experiences of racialized women with workplace gender-based violence in order to inform policy, services, and prevention strategies.

It will also assess if and/or the extent to which Canada’s anti-trafficking framework addresses workplace gender-based violence perpetrated against racialized women.

“Is it trafficking? Examining gender-based violence among women who do informal, precarious, non-standard work”

Is it trafficking? Examines gender-based violence among women who do informal, precarious, non-standard work

Is it trafficking? Woman doing no-standard work

Examining gender-based violence among women who do informal, precarious, non-standard work

While current intersectional approaches to gender-based violence services take into account race, ethnicity, gender, ability, age and other factors, few intersectional approaches consider occupation.

The work that many racialized women do is systemically unrecognized and undervalued and is the site of labour abuses, violence, exploitation, or trafficking.

Increased knowledge about work-related gender-based violence will inform and help improve the capacity of organizations and institutions at all levels in regard to prevention, policy, advocacy and further research in this area.

GAATW Canada began this research in Fall 2023 and will disseminate its findings in Spring 2026.

PHASE 1 (complete)

Project administration and research ethics approval.

PHASE 2 (in progress)

Advisory group formation and participant recruitment.

PHASE 3 (in progress)

Interviews with key stakeholders, including those with lived experience of gender-based violence in a variety of work sectors and the organizations that support them. You can read the latest project update here.

PHASE 4

Analysis and recommendations.

PHASE 5

Systemic advocacy.

We will update this project webpage with our progress. You can also subscribe for email updates.

Get Involved

In 2024-25, we invite racialized women who work in informal, precarious, non-standard work sectors and the organizations that serve them in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the Yukon to become involved in the design and implementation of the project through individual interviews or in an advisory capacity.

Stay Informed

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This project has been funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada.