Our Current Programs
What is Economic Abuse?
Experienced by more than 96% of domestic violence victims, Economic Abuse is a seldom-talked about yet prevalent issue faced by survivors of domestic violence in Canada.
Based in Ottawa, the Canadian Center for Women’s Empowerment (CCFWE) works to dismantle systemic barriers facing survivors of economic abuse, coerced debt, and financial exploitations. Guided by equity and trauma-informed research, we drive prevention and response through systemic change and community engagement.
Intersectional, GBA+, and Equity Approach At the core of our work is a commitment to women’s safety, freedom, and equality. We apply an intersectional and GBA+ lens to address the deep connections between gender and economic power, ensuring our approach is inclusive, just, and transformative.
Our work is grounded in current evidence, emerging research, and best practice knowledge integrated with the lived experiences of survivors. This holistic approach ensures our strategies are relevant, responsive, and impactful.
Ending economic abuse requires bold, sustained effort. We work alongside survivors, grassroots organizations, tech and telecom companies, transportation services, financial institutions, credit agencies, legal experts, all levels of government, service providers, and international partners—uniting for systemic change through shared responsibility.
We partner with communities to end economic abuse, dismantle systemic barriers, close policy gaps, and empower women with economic safety—supporting marginalized survivors in rebuilding their lives and achieving financial independence.
We envision a world where the policy, legal, social services, and financial systems enable Economic Abuse victim-survivors to easily access and receive the resources they require to liberate themselves from their financial burdens and achieve economic empowerment.
Experienced by more than 96% of domestic violence victims, Economic Abuse is a seldom-talked about yet prevalent issue faced by survivors of domestic violence in Canada.
We collaborate with frontline and equity deserving service providers to help survivors heal from family violence, including generational trauma, and empower them by equipping them with the tools and support they need to overcome their experiences, build resilience, and a brighter future. Learn more about out Domestic Economic Abuse Financial Literacy program.
We acknowledge that economic structures, rooted in historical colonization, have contributed to ongoing systemic inequalities. Our daily efforts are dedicated to illuminating these issues, offering resources, and nurturing a community committed to dismantling economic barriers faced by Black women, immigrants and refugee.
We conduct community-based research to collaborate with equity deserving group, and financial institutions to address the research gap on Economic Abuse in Canada. Our research starts by deeply understanding economic abuse, drawing on insights from diverse and our national coalition. We identify promising practices and assess them through a lens of social justice and sustainability uncovering key leverage points to drive policy change and close research gaps in Canada and beyond.
Every year we organize national and international awareness campaigns with the aim of enhancing the capacity of equity deserving organizations. Our goal is to raise awareness about Economic Abuse among various stakeholders, including private entities, financial institutions, consumer lawyers, academia, and essential service providers. Additionally, our focus extends to supporting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. We are dedicated to developing evidence-based, survivor-centered, and culturally sensitive educational resources to assist service providers in identifying and responding to Economic Abuse and coerced debt.
We influence policymakers, private sector and financial institutions to remove structural obstacles, discriminations, racial inequality, oppression that impact the economic empowerment of visible minority survivors and equity deserving group in collaboration thought collective strategy with our National Taskforce. This includes advocating to national comprehensive ecosystem of support services for Economic Abuse survivors, changing current patriarchal, racist and colonial structures and advocating for expanding the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence to ensure economic security. Read our policy submissions here.
We generate research and data through our Research Institute, fostering collaboration among universities, governments, and communities. This triad creates a powerful bridge between research, policy, and practice. Through there partnerships, we co-create solutions at local, regional, national, and international levels, ensuring research informs policy and practice, while real-world experiences continuously shape future research.
We recognize that the Canadian Center for Women’s Empowerment is located on unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation. We extend our respect to all First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples for their valuable past and present contributions to this land.
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