Recent project: Building Community-Based Partnerships for Local Action on Women's Safety
Pilot sites description: Bellechasse, Quebec
Bellechasse
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A little more about Bellechasse... The regional Municipality of Bellechasse is located south-east of the urban center of Lévis. It brings together 20 municipalities and covers a territory of 1759 km ². The number of residents per municipality varies between 750 and 3500. Bellechasse is an agricultural area mainly composed of a French-speaking population. For more information on the MRC of Bellechase, see: |
The Centre des femmes de Bellechasse and the regional municipality of the county (MRC) of Bellechasse (www.mrcbellechasse.qc.ca) which consists of 20 municipalities, have been selected as a pilot community for the project entitled «Building Community-Based Partnerships for Local Action on Women's Safety » of Women in Cities International.
The Centre des femmes de Bellechasse is governed by a Board of Directors composed of seven women working in the field. It closely collaborates with "Femmes et Développement - Bellechasse", a committee which has been created by the Centre and composed of women selected by the 20 municipal councils of the MRC of Bellechasse.
The Centre des femmes de Bellechasse has been carrying out projects related to women's violence ever since it was created in 2000. The Centre jointly collaborates with: CLSC of Bellechasse, Corporation de Développement Communautaire (CDC), the Centre d'Éducation aux Adultes de Bellechasse and several other partners in the MRC. Their main financial partner is the Agence de développement de réseaux locaux de santé et services sociaux Chaudière Appalaches .
This group works with women who have been diagnosed with lung or breast cancer to help them improve their self-esteem and reduce the consumption of psychotropic drugs. It also works to improve the recognition of women in municipal management (through the support of the Quebec Government program, "À égalité pour décider"). The group also helps the women of the MRC to manage stress and preserve their health.
The Centre des femmes de Bellechasse is currently working on a project entitled "Pour un avenir meilleur" . The funding partner of this project is Status of Women Canada. The project covers three main areas including the preparation of an artistic project with high-school students, more specifically a charter on a violence-free municipality, that will then be presented to the 20 municipalities. This project involves youth from each municipality, who are part of the group "Femmes et Développement - Bellechasse" and the Centre-Femmes de Bellechasse. The second area is public information about violence through the distribution of "fake"lipsticks to hairdressers, beauticians and psychologists (a lipstick where the stick is replaced by a piece of paper describing what a woman should bring in case she is suddenly forced to leave her house). These people will give lipstick to women who are victims of violence. The third area consists in organizing a one-day workshop to identify violence with women who are employed in kindergardens.
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