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.
![Woman working in an informal, precarious, non-standard work sector “Is it trafficking? Examining gender-based violence among women who do informal, precarious, non-standard work”](https://gaatw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/racilazed-woman-working-non-standard-work.jpg)
![woman in precarious work sector Is it trafficking? Examines gender-based violence among women who do informal, precarious, non-standard work](https://gaatw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/racilazed-woman-working-in-precarious-work.jpg)
![racilazed woman working in precarious work sector Is it trafficking? Woman doing no-standard work](https://gaatw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/racilazed-woman-working-in-precarious-work-sector.jpg)
![Racialized woman working in an informal, precarious, non-standard work sector Is it trafficking? Examines gender-based violence among women who do informal, precarious, non-standard work](https://gaatw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/racilazed-woman-working-informal-work.jpg)
![Examining gender-based violence among women who do informal, precarious, non-standard work Examining gender-based violence among women who do informal, precarious, non-standard work](https://gaatw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/racialized-woman-who-works-in-precarious-work-sector.jpg)
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.
![GAATW Canada began this research in Fall 2023 and will disseminate its findings in Spring 2026. Is it trafficking? Examines gender-based violence among women who do informal, precarious, non-standard work](https://gaatw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/racialized-woman-working-in-a-precarious-work-sector-1.jpg)
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.
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.
![We invite racialized women who work in informal, precarious, nonstandard work sectors to participate Racialized women who work in informal, precarious, nonstandard work sectors](https://gaatw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/racialized-women-who-work-in-precarious-work-sectors.jpg)