Our National Network
2007 -2008 DAWN Canada Board of Directors
DAWN Canada was founded in 1985 following a meeting between seventeen women from across Canada who came together to discuss issues of mutual concern. In a society which devalues and often punishes difference of any kind, women with disabilities face many barriers. If we are aboriginal women, lesbians, older women or women of colour we encounter even more discrimination and more barriers.
Did you know that:
- At least 53% of all people with disabilities in Canada are women
- The unemployment rate among women with disabilities is up to 75%
- 8% of women with disabilities live on less than $10,000 per year. Of those, 23% live on less than $5,000 per year
- Accessible cribs, accessible and affordable childcare and other services for mothers with disabilities are virtually non-existant
- A drunken and/or abusive father is often considered a better parent than a mother who has a disability
- Women and children with disabilities are twice as likely to be victims of violence than non-disabled women, women and children with multiple disabilities experience even higher rates of violence
- Across Canada, few rape crisis centres and transition houses are accessible to women with all kinds of disabilities
**Based on the 1991 Health and Activity Limitation Survey (HALS), which was problematic due to its definition of disability
Our Mission Statement
A New Era of Action...
DAWN Canada's mission is to end the poverty, isolation, discrimination and violence experienced by women with disabilities. We are working to ensure we get the services and supports we need, have access to opportunities that non-disabled people take for granted, and have freedom of choice in all aspects of our lives.
To achieve our mission on behalf of women with disabilities, we have set the following goals:
- to do outreach with all women with disabilities, including aboriginal women, black women, Asian women, South Asian women, women of color, immigrant women, lesbians, older women, women in institutions and single mothers.
- to address issues such as poverty, employment equity, violence, mothering, sexuality, health, isolation, access to services and New Reproductive Technologies (NRTs).
- to be a resource for and about women with disabilities and our concerns.
- to provide role models for girls with disabilities.
- to be a bridge between women with disabilities and the women's movement.
- to work together with the women's movement on issues which affect all women and to help the movement become more accessible to women with disabilities.
- to work in coalition with those who share our concerns for social justice; and
- to be the voice of women with disabilities in Canada.
2007 -2008 DAWN Canada Board of Directors
Executive
President
Carmela Hutchison - hutch@efirehose.net
Vice-President
Barbara Burdick – lyaneadventure07@gmail.com
Treasurer
Jane Warren - janeofdawn@yahoo.com
National Executive Director
Bonnie Brayton - admin@dawncanada.net
Board of Directors
British Columbia Representative
Barbara Burdick - lyaneadventure07@gmail.com
Alberta Representative
Carmela Hutchison hutch@efirehose.net
Saskatchewan Representative
Zelda J. Rempel - rempel03@shaw.com
Manitoba Representative
Paula Keirstead - paulak@mts.net
Ontario Representative
Fran Odette - cnwonder@rogers.com
Quebec Representative
http://www.afhm.org
Nova Scotia Representative
Jane Warren - janeofdawn@yahoo.com
New Brunswick Representative
no current contact
Prince Edward Island Representative
Shelley MacFarlane - catloverpei@yahoo.ca
Newfoundland and Labrador Representative
no current contact
North West Territories and Yukon Representative
no current contact
Nunavut Representative
no current contact
Ethnocultural Group Representative
no current contact
Student Representative
no current contact
DisAbled Women's Network Canada
Réseau d'action des femmes handicapées du Canada
110 Sainte-Thérèse Street, Suite 505 /110, rue Sainte-Thérèse, bureau 505
Montréal, QC H2Y 1E6/ Montréal (Québec) H2Y 1E6
Phone /Téléphone: 514 396-0009 (QC); Fax /Télécopieur: (514) 396-6585 (QC)
Toll free / Numéro sans frais (Canada): 1-866-396-0074
Phone the toll free number first to arrange a facsimile transmission (Canada) / Téléphonez d'abord au numéro sans frais pour organiser une transmission par télécopieur (Canada)
Email / Courriel: admin@dawncanada.net